Crowd2Fund has record first quarter thanks to IFISA surge
CROWD2FUND has reported a record-breaking first quarter where it experienced 4,700 per cent year-on-year growth in the number of deals financed through the platform.
The peer-to-peer lender, which was one of the first platforms to offer the Innovative Finance ISA, said that 95 per cent of its investments are now made through the tax free wrapper.
In new data released on Thursday, Crowd2Fund also revealed 3,900 per cent year-on-year growth in the value of funds channelled to businesses in the first quarter.
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Chief executive Chris Hancock told Peer-to-Peer Finance News that the platform is experiencing 50 per cent month-on-month growth and is expecting to originate £2m in loans in April, with that figure predicted to rise to £10m by August.
“Last week, 58 IFISAs were opened from 115 investor registrations,” he said. “I think the IFISA market has grown three-fold in terms of investor demand over the past year.”
Registered users on the platform increased by 236 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter, with the percentage of customers actively investing having risen to 68 per cent from 15 per cent.
“This demonstrates that the demand for debt crowdfunding and the IFISA is no longer latent, with users deploying funds soon after registrations as opposed to just signing up out of curiosity,” said Crowd2Fund.
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New deals on the platform are getting closed far more quickly, the platform revealed, with some campaigns now being funded within a matter of hours.
“As a result of this many businesses are increasing their funding requirements in order to accommodate for increased demand from investors, as well as to allow themselves extra finance to grow their businesses,” said the firm.
A number of P2P platforms reported a marked increase in IFISA uptake in the lead-up to the end of the tax year earlier this month. Lending Works announced this week that its tax-free wrapper has attracted almost £9m over the past three months.
However, many of the largest P2P lenders – including ‘big three’ platforms RateSetter, Funding Circle and Zopa – are still awaiting regulatory approval to be able to offer the IFISA, around 18 months after applying.
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