In 2026, funding for small businesses will hinge on more than just traditional bank lending models. It will increasingly depend on how software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies step in with digital, data-driven solutions that democratise access to finance. Leading companies like Pulse are pioneering a wave of innovative SaaS solutions that are helping reshape access to funding and the process itself. Below, we unpack how SaaS companies can make funding more accessible in the UK and point to what SMEs and founders should watch for.

The UK’s Funding Gap and Why Accessibility Matters

Before looking at SaaS solutions, it’s worth recognising why this matters in the UK. 

• Traditional UK banks continue to tighten risk criteria. A report by Allica Bank in 2025 found that there is a credit-shortfall of up to £65 billion in SME lending—reflecting historic levels of unmet demand.  
• While the UK fintech ecosystem remains globally significant, seed- and early-stage funding have declined sharply in 2025. For example, in the first nine months of 2025, UK fintech seed-stage funding fell 44 per cent, and early-stage funding 49 per cent.  
• That means many SMEs and early ventures struggle to secure finance, while larger or later-stage firms still access large rounds. 

In this context, SaaS companies become increasingly important: they can help bridge the gap by enabling alternative funding models, faster access, better data-driven underwriting and embedded finance. For UK founders and business-owners, this means that the path to funding is less reliant on the old “two years trading, perfect credit, property collateral” model.

How SaaS Companies Can Improve Funding Accessibility

Here are some of the ways SaaS firms are opening new funding routes, with forward-looking insights for 2026.

Data-driven risk assessment and automation

SaaS companies can ingest multiple data sources, bank feeds, cash flow, invoices, and subscriptions and apply analytics to help assess creditworthiness faster. For example, Pulse offers various solutions that are built on the foundations of AI, machine learning, real-time data and alternative data sources, including Open Banking and Open Accounting. It has revolutionised affordability checks, the application process, underwriting, and loan management, with quantum leaps in speed, accuracy, and scale. To know more about Pulse and its innovative solutions, contact us today. 

This approach means that SMEs with limited collateral but strong recurring business or subscription income can access financing. SaaS tools help standardise the data and make it transparent.

Embedded finance and alternative funding product models
SaaS companies are enabling funding to be embedded into workflow or product platforms. For example, the UK directory of funding solutions shows that revenue-based financing, subscription funding, and AI-driven underwriting are growing rapidly.  

By embedding finance, SaaS companies can link usage metrics, customer behaviour, unit economics, churn and other live KPIs to funding decisions. That means earlier-stage businesses with subscription models may access funding earlier.

Opening up underserved segments and reducing friction
One of the reasons funding isn’t accessible is friction. Time-consuming manual underwriting, rigid criteria, and lack of transparency all add to this friction. SaaS firms using AI, ML, and automated credit underwriting help alleviate the situation. For the UK, this means that smaller businesses may find funding faster and more predictably. For Example, Pulse’s Unified Lending Interface (ULI) offers solutions to automate, streamline, and expedite the entire lending cycle. Pulse’s Loan Origination System (LOS) digitises the loan application process to under 3 minutes. Pulse’s Underwriting Solution: Einstein aiDeal can process thousands of applications simultaneously, and auto-decision 95% of all incoming deals, auto-decisioning each one in under 45 seconds with customisable criteria. Such innovation makes funding more accessible and decisions faster, thus helping small businesses thrive.  

Scaling transparency and investor-matchmaking
Another role SaaS companies can play is connecting businesses to multiple lenders or funding options, making the decision-making process more transparent. For UK-based SaaS companies, this means offering dashboards and automated scoring. Some SaaS companies already do this for SMEs. For example, Pulse’s ULI interface enables a single loan application to be sent across to numerous lenders simultaneously.

Specific role of Pulse in this ecosystem

Let’s look more closely at how Pulse fits into the funding-access story. Pulse is a data and SaaS company offering various powerful, modular financial solutions: credit risk assessment tools, cash-flow monitoring dashboards, financial health scoring and lending decision-support systems.  

• Pulse’s unified lending interface (ULI) is set to help boost originations substantially in the coming years. 
• By combining SaaS solutions from Pulse, such as Pulse LOS loan origination, automated underwriting via Einstein aiDeal, and post-disbursement loan servicing via Pulse LMS (Loan Management System), they are embedding funding workflows and also providing powerful modular solutions. 

For UK SMEs, this means they have access to a leading SaaS company that uses modern tech, integrated data, and servicing built for digital business finance. So, Pulse can help make funding more accessible by lowering the barriers to entry: less manual, less collateral-heavy, and a more data-driven approach.

What UK Businesses and founders should plan for in 2026

Given the trends, here are recommendations for UK-based businesses looking to access funding via modern SaaS companies. 

Prepare data, metrics and recurring models.
For any business, funding providers generally prefer working with firms that have recurring revenue, clean cash flow, and a strong digital footprint. So UK-based businesses should ensure they: 

• Use cloud-based accounting platforms which ensure data feeds are clean. 
• Monitor unit economics, churn, and renewal rates. 
• Prepare to share live metrics rather than just historic 2-year accounts. 

Explore alternative-financing / revenue-based models
With options such as revenue-based financing, subscription-backed loans and embedded credit, businesses should explore non-equity, non-traditional funding options, especially if they lack property or heavy assets as collateral. There are several non-bank funding options and lenders to choose from. 

Leverage integration with SaaS Companies
Banks, lenders, and businesses can all benefit from integrating with leading SaaS companies like Pulse. With solutions that encompass cash flow forecasting (AiPredict), accounts receivable automation (DebtorIQ) and an entire suite of lending solutions (Pulse’s Unified Lending Interface: ULI), stakeholders can automate business processes and streamline and digitise the entire lending cycle.  

Businesses can avoid painful traditional loan application processes and gain access to funding quickly, while banks and lenders can modernise legacy models, leverage automated underwriting for near-instant loan decisions, and effortlessly scale operations, volume, and revenue. Accountants can also integrate Pulse’s solutions or Pulse ULI via embedded finance integration. They can leverage aiPredict: Pulse’s comprehensive cash flow forecasting tool, or automate accounts receivable with Pulse’s DebtorIQ. They can also play an active role in advising clients on funding access and facilitating the same via Pulse ULI. 

Watch The Underwriting Shifts. 

Expect lenders and platforms in the UK in 2026 to rely less on traditional collateral and more on data signals such as customer behaviour, subscriptions, cash-flow, etc. Leading SaaS companies like Pulse have built infrastructure to support that shift. For businesses, being aligned with this shift will increase accessibility. 

Conclusion 

For UK-based businesses, 2026 will not just be about “finding a lender” in the old sense. It will be about integrating into an ecosystem where SaaS companies (such as Pulse) provide the infrastructure, data, automation and solutions that make funding quick, easy, automated, and accessible. The barriers of manual processes, heavy collateral, and manual underwriting are being chipped away. But success will lean on how well you manage data, subscription metrics, digital footprints and your readiness to participate in the new world of finance powered by AI, machine learning and innovative SaaS solutions.