Funding Circle, a peer-to-peer lending marketplace, has raised $100m.
Led by Accel, the round also drew support from funding Circle investors including Baillie Gifford, DST Global, Index Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Rocket Internet, Sands Capital Ventures, Temasek and Union Square Ventures.
Samir Desai, co-founder and CEO of Funding Circle, said: “Today’s news is the next step on our journey to create a category-defining company that helps thousands of small businesses access finance and create jobs. Over the next 12 months, lending through the Funding Circle platform will create a further 50,000 new jobs, supporting economic growth in the UK, US and continental Europe.”
Launched in 2010, Funding Circle has facilitated investments from a wide range of individuals and financial institutions, with £1.1bn being invested through the platform in 2016. The new round of investment comes as total lending to small businesses through Funding Circle passes £2.5bn globally.
Harry Nelis, partner at Accel, said: “We’ve been impressed by the Funding Circle team since our early investment in the company. It has achieved significant growth across multiple international markets by delivering an appealing lending option to SMEs and attractive risk-adjusted returns to investors on the platform. This investment makes Funding Circle the largest and best capitalised SME lending platform in the world, and we’re thrilled to continue to support its journey.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, commented: “Funding Circle has become a real success story for British FinTech and news that it has attracted £80m of investment is further evidence of the growing importance of this industry. This is another vote of confidence in a UK firm that plays an important role in our economy – helping businesses to grow and create jobs.”