The P2P lending platforms that have held onto their founders
The impending departure of Samir Desai as Funding Circle chief executive means the founders of two of the largest peer-to-peer lenders will no longer be involved in the day-to-day running of their platforms, how does this compare with other major P2P firms?
Funding Circle announced last week that its chief executive and co-founder Samir Desai is stepping down after 12 years at the helm, to be replaced by UK managing director Lisa Jacobs.
Desai (pictured) will transition to a new role as non-executive director on 1 January 2022.
Fellow co-founders James Meekings and Andrew Mullings have previously stepped back from the platform and of the creators of fellow P2P lending giant Zopa, only Giles Andrews is still involved at board level.
Andrews stepped down as chair of Zopa in 2019.
Other founders of the largest and longest running P2P and marketplace lenders have stuck around though.
RateSetter
Former P2P lender RateSetter was the third largest platform until its acquisition by Metro Bank and exit from the sector last year.
Co-founders Rhydian Lewis and Peter Behrens have remained as chief executive and chief commercial officer respectively.
MarketFinance
MarketFinance entered the alternative lending space in 2011 initially focusing on invoice finance and recently launching into business loans.
Although it has stepped away from the P2P space, instead focusing on institutional partnerships with major financial firms such as Barclays, its co-founder Anil Stocker is still chief executive.
Assetz Capital
Stuart Law launched Assetz Capital in 2013 and is still at the helm of the business as chief executive.
The brand is busy taking part in the recovery loan scheme and reopening to investors and borrowers.
Lending Works
Nick Harding helped launch Lending Works in 2014 and is still chief executive of the platform despite the lender being acquired by Intriva Capital.
The consumer lending platform last month warned of a short-term rise in loan loss rates.
A founder can have a big influence on a company’s culture and direction but Zopa has also shown a company can still flourish once they leave.
Only time will tell what the future holds and if other founders get itchy feet or stick around.
