Saible raises £2.9M to fix the UK's £11B construction payment logjam
What's the deal? Birmingham-based fintech SaibleDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised £2.9 million in a seed round to expand a platform that stops construction payments from stalling as they move down the supply chain. The round comprises £2.1 million already secured plus an £800,000 extension. Investors include Phil Brown, founder and executive chair of rival Causeway Technologies.
What's the endgame? Founded in 2023 by Jarvey Moss, Saible built its technology on the idea that construction's core problem is how money moves. On large projects, funds can pass through four or five companies before reaching the people doing the work, with delays at each stage.
How the product works: Saible's Digital Parallel Payment Account holds project funds in trust with regulated banking partner Griffin, releasing them to all approved suppliers at once — rather than in sequence — once work is verified. Project owners pay a 0.25% fee; suppliers pay nothing.
Why now? The raise lands as Parliament moves to ban retention payments and cap payment terms at 60 days. Late payments cost the UK economy an estimated £11 billion a year, according to the Department for Business and Trade.
What could go wrong? The distress in the sector is severe. Construction has recorded more insolvencies than any other UK sector for four years running: 4,450 firms failed in 2025, up 9%, with a further 1,180 collapsing in the first quarter of 2026 alone. When contractor ISG collapsed in 2024, it left more than £1.1 billion in unpaid debts.
Why it matters: Research from accountancy firm Menzies found that 93% of construction and property firms report late payments, with invoices averaging 53 days overdue, and 86% are in, or at risk of, serious financial distress.
Saible is piloting the model on a public-sector footbridge project with the Environment Agency and BAM Nuttall. "Late payment in construction goes beyond the balance sheet. It creates pressure that runs through businesses, workers and families," says Moss.
The signal: Investors are increasingly backing fintechs that rethink how construction money moves, not just how projects are managed. Tech Funding News recently covered London-based Prolo's £4.2 million raise, which tackles the same cash-flow squeeze from the procurement side. Saible's £2.9 million sits in the middle of the pack for deal size, but the field it competes in — from Payapps to Built Technologies, which has raised over $270 million — signals real appetite for fixing construction's payment plumbing.
Read more: Tech Funding News
