Nucleus Commercial Finance
Nucleus Commercial Finance is a London-based SME lender, acquired by Pulse, a Mumbai-based data and SaaS fintech, in October 2025. As of September 2026 Nucleus no longer lists invoice finance as a product. Its published range on nucleuscommercialfinance.com is Nucleus Business Loans (£10,000 to £500,000 over up to 60 months), Enable (£10,000 to £350,000 over up to 48 months) and Credit Builder (£3,000 to £25,000 over up to 12 months), plus revenue-based loans. An older invoice finance FAQ is still on the site, but there is no invoice finance product page behind it. If you need invoice finance, compare the providers below instead.
What this page covers
This page covers
What Nucleus Commercial Finance currently offers, the Pulse acquisition, and invoice finance alternatives
Not covered here
General invoice finance education (see /guides/), sector pages (see /industries/), the full provider directory (see /providers/)
Key Facts
When Nucleus Commercial Finance Fits Now
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SMEs that want an unsecured term loan of £10,000 to £500,000 rather than a facility against the ledger
Nucleus Business Loans run to 60 months and are a different product from invoice finance: you borrow a fixed sum and repay it, instead of drawing against unpaid invoices. That suits a one-off investment more than a recurring cash flow gap.
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Businesses with card or online revenue that suits a revenue-based loan
Nucleus also lists revenue-based lending and its Enable product (£10,000 to £350,000 over up to 48 months). Repayments flex with trading rather than sitting at a fixed monthly figure, which is closer in feel to invoice finance but is still borrowing, not an advance against a specific invoice.
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Businesses rebuilding a credit profile with a small, short facility
Credit Builder runs from £3,000 to £25,000 over up to 12 months. It is a small-ticket product, not a working capital line, and it will not fund a growing debtor book the way invoice finance does.
When to Look Elsewhere
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You actually want invoice finance rather than a loan
Nucleus no longer lists an invoice finance product, so any UK invoice financier is a better starting point. For single invoices, Triver or Hydr; for a whole-ledger facility, Close Brothers or Bibby Financial Services.
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Construction firms with long payment terms or retention-heavy contracts
Better fit: Ultimate Finance. Ultimate Finance specialises in construction sector nuances including retention finance and application valuations.
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Businesses wanting confidential facilities with no client notification
Better fit: Skipton Business Finance. Skipton offers confidential invoice discounting, where your customers are not told a funder is involved.
Invoice Finance Providers to Compare Instead
Because Nucleus no longer lists invoice finance, the table below is the like-for-like alternatives in our directory rather than a Nucleus comparison.
| Provider | Type | Min turnover | Fee from | Advance to | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close Brothers | both | £750k | Not published | Up to 90% | 5 working days |
| Bibby Financial Services | both | Not published | Not published | Up to 85% | 5 working days |
| Pulse Finance (formerly Pulse Cashflow) | both | Not published | Not published | Up to 90% | Within 24 hours (advertised) |
| Optimum Finance | both | Not published | Not published | Up to 90% | Not published |
Source: Market Invoice structured provider dataset (src/data/providers.ts) and each provider's own site. Starting service charges are for a lowest-risk profile, not published rate cards. "Not published" means the funder does not state the figure publicly.
Close Brothers: a bank with a deposit-taking licence and a large balance sheet, with a published £750k minimum turnover for whole-ledger factoring and confidential discounting.
Bibby Financial Services: trading since 1982, one of the larger UK independents, with dedicated construction, recruitment and manufacturing teams.
Pulse Finance (formerly Pulse Cashflow): a separate UK invoice financier and factor, nothing to do with the Mumbai-based Pulse that bought Nucleus. Pulse Finance Limited (company 08429955) is based in Basingstoke, took its current name in April 2025, and advertises up to 90% of invoice value within 24 hours.
Optimum Finance: a Bristol-based independent that emphasises construction and manufacturing, including retention handling.
What Nucleus Publishes Now
Nucleus Commercial Finance product range, read from nucleuscommercialfinance.com on 17 September 2026
If You Approach Nucleus Commercial Finance
- 1
Confirm which product you are being quoted
Ask in writing whether the offer is a term loan, Enable, Credit Builder or a revenue-based loan. None of these is invoice finance: they are borrowing you repay, not an advance against a named invoice, so the security, cost and cash flow profile are all different.
- 2
Get the total cost in pounds, not just a rate
Nucleus does not publish pricing for any of its products, so the only way to compare is a written quote showing the total amount repayable, the term, any arrangement fee and any early settlement charge.
- 3
Check the security and the counterparty
Expect a debenture (fixed and floating charge) registered at Companies House, and personal guarantees on unsecured lending. Check which entity you are contracting with: the Nucleus Commercial Finance name sits on company 14143216 since October 2024, while the original 2011 company (07829566) was renamed NCF Realisations (2024) Limited.
FAQs
Does Nucleus Commercial Finance still do invoice finance?
Not as a listed product. Read on 17 September 2026, nucleuscommercialfinance.com offers Nucleus Business Loans, Enable and Credit Builder, and its types-of-funding section lists business loans and revenue-based loans. There is no invoice finance product page.
An older invoice finance FAQ page is still live and still quotes £100,000 to £50 million with rates "from 0.1% to 2% per invoice", but nothing on the site sells that product now. Treat the FAQ as legacy content and confirm directly with Nucleus before relying on it.
What did the October 2025 Pulse acquisition change?
Pulse, a Mumbai-based data and SaaS fintech, announced the acquisition of Nucleus Commercial Finance on 3 October 2025 in a deal reported at around Rs 500 crore, to scale its UK operations ahead of a planned IPO. Nucleus still trades from 120 Regent Street, London under its own brand. Note that the Nucleus site is now served from Pulse infrastructure: the www.nucleuscommercialfinance.com hostname does not present a valid certificate, so use the address without the www.
Is Nucleus connected to Pulse Cashflow, the invoice financier?
No. Pulse Finance Limited (company 08429955, Basingstoke) is a separate UK invoice finance and factoring business, controlled since April 2025 by Pulse Group Of Companies Limited (company 16172778), a UK company. It has no ownership connection to the Mumbai-based Pulse that acquired Nucleus. The shared name is a coincidence, and an earlier version of this page wrongly linked the two.
Which company will I actually be contracting with?
Check the agreement. Since October 2024 the Nucleus Commercial Finance Limited name has been held by company 14143216 (incorporated May 2022), while the company that traded under that name from 2011, number 07829566, was renamed NCF Realisations (2024) Limited. Both are active at Companies House and neither carries an insolvency flag, but the counterparty on your paperwork is worth confirming before you sign.
Our Verdict
Nucleus is a long-standing London SME lender, and the Pulse acquisition brings fresh capital and international ambition. For invoice finance, though, it is no longer a candidate: there is no invoice finance product on its site, and the only invoice finance content left there is an unattached FAQ.
If you want a term loan or a revenue-based facility it is worth a quote, priced against others since Nucleus publishes no rates. If you want money against your unpaid invoices, start with the providers listed above instead.
Sources: Nucleus Commercial Finance (product range, read 17 September 2026) · Companies House 14143216 and 07829566 (entity names) · Companies House 08429955, Pulse Finance Limited · BCR Publishing, Pulse acquires Nucleus
Founder & Managing Director, Muswell Rose, founder and PSC of Best Business Loans Ltd
Adam is the founder and managing director of Muswell Rose and a founder of Best Business Loans Ltd, the company behind Market Invoice. He spent over three years as managing director of Penny, a UK invoice finance business, and his career runs through insurance, mortgages, commercial finance and fintech lending. He writes the Market Invoice library.
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