LendingCrowd inks £18.75m funding deal with Scottish and Dutch investment banks
SCOTTISH lender LendingCrowd has announced a new funding deal worth £18.75m with the government-backed Scottish Investment Bank (SIB) and Dutch entrepreneurial bank NIBC.
The institutional funds will be lent via the peer-to-peer platform to UK small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
It is LendingCrowd’s second funding deal with the SIB, after a £2.75m funding line was inked in October 2016.
“We’ve had a record number of requests for funding from British businesses so far this year, showing that the appetite for alternative sources of finance to fund their ambitions only seems to be getting stronger,” said Stuart Lunn (pictured, left), founder and chief executive of LendingCrowd.
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“We are delighted that the SIB has followed up its first foray into the alternative investment market with this further commitment, and that we have been joined by NIBC, which sees the potential of LendingCrowd and our proven ability to distribute its considerable funding to UK businesses. Going through the due diligence on a deal like this has really shown the strength of our team in building an institutional class lending business.
“There are many small businesses crying out for finance and the funding from the SIB and NIBC, coupled with our strong retail investor base, will allow LendingCrowd to help even more companies fulfil their ambitions.”
LendingCrowd intends to market these new funds to British businesses, before assessing borrower applications and distributing the finance via platform. LendingCrowd provides SME funding across a variety of sectors, with loans of up to £500,000 available.
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“We are delighted to provide the loan funding to LendingCrowd, Scotland’s marketplace lender, in order to support the substantial funding from NIBC, thereby continuing our efforts to stimulate the Scottish market for alternative and innovative forms of finance,” said Kerry Sharp, director of the SIB.
“Having worked with LendingCrowd since 2016, we are delighted they have successfully grown their alternative funding operations to attract significant international funding, increasing and broadening the supply of capital to our SMEs – a great example of the SIB’s wide and varied role in enhancing Scotland’s access to finance.”
Nils Schaffner, head of fintech and structured finance UK at NIBC added: “We look forward to working together and seeing LendingCrowd continuing to make a real impact for SMEs seeking funding to realise their goals.”
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