Intangible assets – patents, software, trade secrets, proprietary processes – now account for the majority of value in modern businesses. Yet for most financial institutions, they remain almost impossible to use as conventional security or collateral.
The reason is structural. Two long-standing barriers have made intangibles difficult to fund: separation – the challenge of detaching an intangible asset from the business that owns it – and immutability – the difficulty of establishing a fixed, verifiable value. Until both are resolved, intangible-rich businesses will continue to be underserved by mainstream lending.
We believe that changes now.
A Coalition Built for Change
We are building a coalition of forward-thinking financial institutions – banks, lending partners and fintechs – to take a unified case to government for better frameworks around intangible asset funding.
The mechanism is already in place. The British Business Bank’s Enable Fund provides the pathway. Our process directly addresses both separation and immutability, making intangible assets viable as fundable collateral for the first time at scale.
This isn’t a distant ambition. We have already held formal discussions with the Intellectual Property Office, and NatWest have agreed to support a pilot. The coalition is forming now – and we’re inviting the right institutions to be part of it.
Why Get Involved?
- Be part of shaping government policy – not responding to it after the fact
- Gain early insight into a framework that will define intangible asset lending
- Join a credible, institutionally backed initiative at the ground floor
- Open up a significant and largely untapped lending market
The Next Step
We’re not asking for a commitment – just a conversation. If intangible asset funding is on your radar, or you believe it should be, we’d love to tell you more about what coalition membership looks like in practice.
To find out more, contact us via email at info@ip-a.co.uk or via the contact form.