Online lender RateSetter valued at over £200 million as it raises £13 million to launch new ISAs
RateSetter, one of the UK’s three biggest peer-to-peer lenders, said on Tuesday it has raised £13 million in equity funding from its existing shareholders. City fund managers Woodford Investment Management and Artemis were both existing investors and took part in the funding round. The funding will be put towards launching its new “Innovative Finance ISA,” a new product that will allow consumers to hold peer-to-peer loans in an ISA. RateSetter plans to launch the product once it receives full authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority. RateSetter is the last of the UK’s “Big 3” peer-to-peer lenders waiting for sign-off from the City watchdog. Founded in 2010, RateSetter allows ordinary people […]
EstateGuru says more than €1 Million in interest paid to Real Estate investors
Peer to peer property lender EstateGuru has shared that investors on its platform have now earned in excess of €1 million. The Estonia-based company said that nearly 6900 investors from 39 different countries have earned, on average, 12.63% since platform launch in 2014. EstateGuru also reports there has been no loss of capital on the platform. At the end of March, EstateGuru celebrated having facilitated €20 million worth of loans through the platform. The company’s CEO Marek Pärtel said his goal has always been to protect investor’s funds while offering great returns in real estate assets. “Real estate is an asset class that is not accessible to many due to […]
Online lending startup Earnest said to look for a buyer
Earnest Inc., the financial-technology startup backed by venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz, is looking for a buyer as the market for peer-to-peer lending matures, and it struggles to raise new funds. The San Francisco-based company, which offers student loan refinancing as well as personal loans, is shopping itself for about $100 million, according to people familiar with the matter. Earnest last raised $75 million in equity and $200 million in debt in 2015, bringing the total to just over $300 million since it was founded in 2013, according to research firm CB Insights. The most recent equity financing was led by Battery Ventures, and the debt was led by […]
Lendy hits £300m investment mark
The slowdown in bank lending prompted by the Brexit vote has helped Lendy hit the £300m investment mark in April, having channelled £50m to property borrowers in the last 100 days alone. With new loans on the peer-to-peer platform often up to five times oversubscribed, the firm was able to add three larger-size loans over the last three months, it told Peer2Peer Finance News. It directed £7.5m to the purchase and redevelopment of a commercial building in Marylebone, £5.7m to the development of a major residential building on Liverpool’s waterfront and £2.4m to the development of a major student accommodation complex in Huddersfield. The firm said it was able to […]
MarketInvoice secures £45m from Banco BNI Europa
UK-based MarketInvoice has signed an agreement with Banco BNI Europa (BNI), which will now provide £45 million annually to fund working capital for SMEs on the platform. MarketInvoice is now the world’s largest peer-to-peer online invoice finance marketplace, having funded over 70,000 invoices worth more than £1.2 billion since its launch in 2011. Today, the UK business has signed an agreement with Banco BNI Europa (BNI), which will now provide £45 million in funding annually on the marketplace to fund working capital for MarketInvoice customers. BNI trialled an investment last year of £28.3 million, which went into funding SMEs on the platform seeking invoice finance. After the success of that […]
Fintech lender RateSetter lands FTSE 100 heavyweight as new chairman
The chairman of global insurance giant Prudential is joining to board of online lender RateSetter as non-executive chairman. Paul Manduca will join the board of the peer-to-peer lender in June and will become chair on July 17 when current chairman Alan Hughes’ three-year term expires. The appointment represents a coup for RateSetter. Manduca is a well-established figure in the City, as the founding CEO of Threadneedle Asset Management, and the former CEO of Rothschild Asset Management and Deutsche Asset Management. As well as chairing Prudential, he currently chairs the Advisory Council of influential lobby group TheCityUK. The appointment of a veteran of public markets will likely fuel speculation that RateSetter […]
Bitbond secures £4.2m to fund SME loans
Global bitcoin peer-to-peer lending platform Bitbond has received a €5m (£4.2m) commitment from Obotritia Capital to fund small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) loans. The Potsdam-based investment firm, which usually channels its funds into German commercial real estate, has also bought an equity stake in Bitbond, although the terms of that deal were not disclosed. With the new debt facility, SME loans will be funded instantly on Bitbond’s platform, reducing the time it takes business owners to apply and receive a loan to 30 minutes. The equity investment will be used for further product development and marketing, to grow Bitbond’s user base. “The debt commitment by Obotritia brings Bitbond to the […]
Assetz Capital attracts £10m of new investment in three weeks
Assetz Capital has seen more than £10m of new investment in peer-to-peer loans following a rise in the interest rate on its 30-Day Access Account. The platform announced last month that it would be increasing interest rates for investors on its 30-Day Access Account by 0.5% to 4.75% for a limited time. Investors still have until midday on 11th May to take advantage of the new rate. “Due to strong borrower demand, we decided to temporarily raise the target rate on our 30-Day Access Account,” said Stuart Law, CEO of Assetz Capital. “This has gone against the grain in a period where many P2P platforms have been dropping rates. “It’s […]
