IPO UK again commits to building IP-backed finance to help IP-rich SMEs access growth funds

Image: UK IPO

The UK Intellectual Property Office corporate plans for 2026-2027, published this week, include yet more evidence that the Government is committed to building the UK’s IP-backed finance ecosystem, to solve the funding gap faced by UK IP-rich growth companies.

The challenge such firms face is that while they are rich in intellectual property and intangible assets (IP), which drive modern 21st century businesses, they do not usually have the tangible assets demanded by most lenders as collateral for loans. As yet, most lenders will ignore – or cannot ‘see’ – the value of IP assets because of outdated accounting rules or financial regulations that favour tangible assets over intangible ones.

However, the UK is one of the leaders in the development of IP-backed finance, where IP can be recognised, valued, and used as collateral for debt finance, and some forward-thinking banks (including NatWest, which just celebrated the second anniversary of its an IP-backed loan, developed and supported in tandem with Inngot, and HSBC, another Inngot partner) offer IP-based loans.

In his foreword to the latest IPO Corporate Plan, the UK’s minister with responsibility for IP, Kanishka Narayan MP, set out three priorities for the IPO, including to:

“Support the development of the UK’s IP‑backed financing ecosystem to help innovative SMEs start, scale and stay in the UK - Work across government and industry to support SMEs to leverage their IP to secure growth funding and increase visibility, understanding and confidence in the value of IP as a strategic asset.”

Last week, the Minister gave a keynote address to the annual conference of the International Trade Mark Association (INTA), which was held in London. In a Q&A session after his conference speech, the minister was asked how the UK is promoting and enabling a change in attitudes to IP, from it being about protection to it also being a financial tool.

“We are deliberately shifting the conversation about intellectual property, so it’s recognised as a driver of growth,” the minister said. “That’s why we are focused on helping businesses use their IP to access capital and grow. Developing the market for IP‑backed finance is a priority of mine for the year ahead, working with lenders and partners like the British Business Bank to broaden the options available.”

In January 2026, Inngot’s CEO, Martin Brassell, who sits on the UK Intellectual Property Office’s IP Finance Advisory Group, posted an article on LinkedIn on the various initiatives in the UK to drive the growth of IP-backed finance as a way to help IP-rich but traditional tangible asset-poor growth companies get bank lending by using their IP as collateral.

Inngot works closely with leading banks in the UK on developing IP-backed finance lending programs (such as the NatWest High Growth IP-backed loan mentioned earlier). The company, along with its South East Asian partner, Adastra IP, is also advising WIPO, local IP offices, and government agencies, on a pilot scheme for IP-based finance in the ASEAN region. The first loan under one of these pilot schemes, in Malaysia, has just been announced by the country’s development bank, Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Berhad (MIDF).