Loanpad raises more than £400,000 through crowdfunding round

Loanpad has raised more than £400,000 from an equity crowdfunding round.

The peer-to-peer lending platform had a target of £250,000 when it launched its Seedrs campaign earlier in March but has closed the round with £423,060, 168 per cent above its aim.

The fundraise was backed by 363 investors.

Read more: Loanpad staff making breathing aids during pandemic

Loanpad said the proceeds raised will be used to support the ongoing growth of the platform.

This includes general growth working capital, marketing activity to raise awareness and substantially increase the funds under management, increasing the size of its interest cover fund and software development to enable new features and account-types and licensing to third parties.

Loanpad aims to break even and become profitable in the second quarter of this year, after its loanbook grew by 200 per cent year-on-year across 2020.

It comes as P2P analyst 4th Way gave Loanpad a three out of three Plus rating, ranking it as exceptional.

“Loanpad partners with a family firm that’s done development lending for 40 years and more recently with another firm with a huge amount of experience,” a review by 4th Way said.

“Lenders through Loanpad buy the safest slice of these loans, so that the property’s value must drop typically by about 50 to 65 per cent of the valuation before lenders can expect to lose any money.

“The partner firms keep the riskier part of every loan, taking the first loss above yours of approximately 33 per cent. That’s massive.”