Koyo raises £100m debt and £5m equity round
Consumer lender Koyo has expanded its debt facility to £100m and raised £5m in equity funding, to support its growth plans alongside a rebrand.
The firm, which launched to borrowers in January 2020, secured new funding from New York-based Atalaya Capital Management. The equity raise was led by existing investors Force Over Mass, as well as Forward Partners Frontline Venture and Atalaya Capital Management.
Since its inception Koyo has originated more than £50m and partnered with major comparison sites in the UK.
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It has recently rebranded and updated its website to reflect its expanded target market and innovative approach to lending. The new funding is intended to help continue Koyo’s drive in this space.
Koyo has also hired David Cain as chief finance officer. Cain previously held roles at Jaja Finance (credit cards) Cepal Hellas (debt collection) NM Rothschild (advisory) and JP Morgan Chase (structured finance).
Koyo was founded in 2018 by former venture capitalist Thomas Olszewski and consists of a small team made up of former RateSetter, Zopa and LendInvest executives.
Read more: Koyo raises £36m as it targets ‘near-prime’ consumer credit market
“During the pandemic many lenders exited the market while we were able to keep lending and support customers during a turbulent time”, Olszewski said.
“We can see the same is happening today as customers have fewer options when they need them the most. Our proprietary open banking platform allows us to evaluate customers creditworthiness [to]offer competitive prices and a seamless customer experience.”
Koyo uses open banking data, rather than credit agency scores, to underwrite risk for lending to consumers.
Its vision is to become a UK leader in using alternative data to offer competitively priced financial products to segments of the market such as thin file customers (short or no credit history) or near prime customers, who have fewer options when it comes to affordable credit. The near-prime market equates to around 13-15 million people in the UK.
Read more: More platforms embrace open banking