Nimbla
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Nimbla was a London insurtech that provided invoice insurance to small and medium-sized businesses: its automated credit-risk platform let businesses check a buyer's ability to pay and insure individual invoices against non-payment, with quotes delivered in seconds. Founded in 2016 by Flemming Bengtsen (rebranded from Cvrd in 2017), it processed 67 million invoices worth £2.5 billion, partnered with Barclays Bank in 2020, and raised $6.9 million in November 2021 from Fin VC and Barclays. In March 2024 the company entered voluntary liquidation.
02 / Nimbla FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Nimbla grew fast during the pandemic but could not survive the post-boom insurtech squeeze. Invoice insurance means paying out when customers default — exactly when the economy turns — and the capital-intensive model proved hard to sustain once growth capital dried up in 2022–2023. In March 2024 the company appointed voluntary liquidators from Leonard Curtis, winding down the business. No public announcement of a specific single cause was made; the liquidation filing is the documented outcome.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Flemming Bengtsen founded the company in London (initially Cvrd), building an automated credit-risk platform for invoice insurance.
- Rebranded
The company rebranded from Cvrd to Nimbla.
- Barclays partnership
Nimbla partnered with Barclays Bank to offer invoice insurance to its one million small-business customers.
- Raised $6.9M
In November 2021 Nimbla raised $6.9 million (£5.1M) led by Fin VC with participation from Barclays to scale its embedded insurance API.
- Voluntary liquidation
On March 27, 2024, Nimbla appointed voluntary liquidators from Leonard Curtis, entering liquidation.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
On March 27, 2024, Nimbla appointed two voluntary liquidators from Leonard Curtis, entering voluntary liquidation under UK insolvency proceedings.
- 02
Creditors and stakeholders were directed to the appointed insolvency practitioners; no continuation of operations was announced.