Victory Park Capital, an asset management firm based in the US and an active lender to UK and European companies, has provided a lending facility to Funding Circle to finance up to $420m in loans to small businesses in the U.K. and U.S. over the next three years.
Victory Park Capital, which was an early institutional partner to Funding Circle in the US, has been actively involved in the marketplace lending sector since 2010 and has made more than US$2.2 billion of investments and commitments across a number of financial technology platforms, multiple geographies (US, UK and Europe), products (consumer and business) and structures (whole loans and senior credit facilities).
This new funding will be invested across all risk bands, in accordance with Funding Circle’s industry-leading credit criteria.
Funding Circle has now facilitated more than $850 million in loans to 8,000 small businesses globally.
Launched in 2010 by Samir Desai, CEO, Funding Circle is an online marketplace for business loans, which enables investors to directly lend to small businesses in both the UK and the US, and lets businesses typically access capital in seven days compared to 15-20 weeks with a bank. Since launching in the UK in 2010, investors have lent more than $850 million to over 8,000 businesses globally.
In the UK, businesses can borrow between £5,000 and £1 million. Investors include thousands of individuals, the Government-backed British Business Bank, local councils, financial organizations and the University of Huddersfield.
In the US, its marketplace allows accredited investors and institutions to invest in small businesses seeking to borrow $25,000 to $500,000.
FinSMEs
19/02/2015