Founders in London have taken out £250m of Start Up Loans since 2012, with Hackney the most entrepreneurial borough.
New data released by Start Up Loans, part of the British Business Bank, shows that the programme has delivered just over £250m in lending to more than 25,000 entrepreneurs across London.
In 2025 alone, 1,500 loans valued at £20m were taken out, demonstrating the city’s enduring entrepreneurial drive.
Louise McCoy, Managing Director of Start Up Loans Products, British Business Bank said: “Entrepreneurship is in London’s DNA.
“At Start Up Loans, we’re proud to support so many ambitious founders who are building the next generation of businesses that make London, and the UK, such a dynamic place to live and work.”
The Start Up Loans programme is a government-backed scheme that provides personal loans to business of up to £25,000 at a fixed 6% interest rate per annum, while also offering free dedicated mentoring and support to each business.
The primary aim of the Start Up Loans programme is to ensure that viable start-ups and early-stage businesses have access to the finance and support they need in order to thrive.
The data shows that the most entrepreneurial borough, ranked by volume of loans taken out since 2012, is Hackney, where East London Tech City and Silicon Roundabout are based, followed by Lambeth and Lewisham in South London.
The City of London is by far the least entrepreneurial borough according to the Start Up Loans data, with just 19 small business owners taking out loans valued at around £200,000 in total.
Approximately one in eight loans in the scheme were taken out by Gen Z founders, and one in 10 were taken out by the over-50s.
The average size of an individual loan across the city is just under £10,000 and the borough with the highest average is Harrow, where loans averaged around £12,000.
Lewisham is the borough with the smallest average loan size of just over £8,500.
Blair McDougall, Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation, said: “London is home to some of the brightest and most innovative entrepreneurs in the world and through Start Up Loans, we are ensuring they have access to the finance they need to reach their full potential.”
One founder who has made use of the programme is Yandis Ying, founder of Dot Dot Tea based in Waltham Forest, the UK’s first ready to drink bubble tea.
Yandis first used the loan to bring her product to life with branding, packaging and natural ingredients.
In just two years, her business has grown rapidly, and Dot Dot Tea is now stocked in London’s most popular department stores, including Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and nationwide at supermarkets like Ocado.
To keep up with product demand Yandis opened her own bubble tea brewery.
Yandis said: “The Start Up Loan with support from the Business Enterprise Fund was fundamental to Dot Dot Tea’s success.
“There is often a lot of red tape for business founders when setting up their business, but this wasn’t the case with Start Up Loans.”
Since 2012, the Start Up Loans programme has delivered more than 125,000 loans to business owners across the UK, amounting to more than £1.25bn of funding.
The government’s Backing Your Business Plan, announced over the summer that the Start Up Loans programme has been expanded and will provide more than £1bn of additional lending to entrepreneurs.
Based on Bank estimates, the expansion of the programme could contribute approximately £1.3bn in additional economic output, generate an additional £3.1bn of turnover and create an additional 12,600 jobs over the life of the finance.
Featured image: Dot Dot Tea Founder – Start Up Loans Scheme. Photo courtesy of Press Release from British Business Bank
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