FinTech firm Zopa has raised £32m from investors as it gears up to submit its banking license application later this year.
The round was co-led by Wadhawan Global Capital Pvt Ltd, an India-based financial services group; and Northzone, a European VC fund.
Zopa, which has now raised more than £80m in equity funding, last closed a £15m investment deal in January 2014.
Speaking about the news, Jaidev Janardana, Zopa’s CEO, said: “Zopa’s vision has always been to make money simple and fair for consumers, providing our customers with better value, better service, and greater choice.
“This investment gives us additional resources to continue our growth, support the launch of our next generation bank, and bring our award-winning products to even more people in the UK.,” he added.
The news comes as Zopa claims to have already facilitated more than £800m in personal loans in the UK since June last year.
Kapil Wadhawan, group chairman of WGC, spoke about the investment: “WGC is excited to partner with Zopa, the leading consumer peer to peer lending platform in the UK, towards its journey to become a next generation bank. The objective of Zopa is in line with WGC’s objective of changing the lives of customers by offering them credit, savings and insurance products.”
He added:“We believe that peer-to-peer lending is the business of the future as it provides both lenders and borrowers the platform for mutual financial benefit.”
Jeppe Zink, partner at Northzone, also weighed in. “We believe Zopa is a blueprint of what the modern, technology-first bank will, and should look like, based on transparency and customer service,” said the partner, concluding:
“Zopa is already a trailblazer in the market, and is in a strong position to build on this, with the launch of their new products.”
Today’s announcement comes after RateSetter announced a £13m raise earlier this week.
For more funding news, check out our investment channel and UK tech investment tracker.