Introducing the Rising Stars of the P2P industry
Six peer-to-peer lending platforms are competing to be named Rising Star at the upcoming Peer2Peer Finance Awards.
The six shortlisted firms represent some of the best emerging talent in the sector, with some focused on democratising access to credit, and others showcasing Islamic finance models and businesses prioritising socially-good outcomes.
Read more: Peer2Peer Finance Awards: Shortlist announced!
Here are the contenders…
Plend
Plend launched in July 2022, with a mission to create a more financially inclusive UK. The platform looks to personalise credit and to base lending decisions on individuals’ actual financial position, rather than their credit score. More than £40m of loan applications have been processed through Plend’s consumer lending platform so far and the loan book is increasing by 20 per cent month on month. Speaking to Peer2Peer Finance News last month, chief executive and co-founder Rob Pasco characterised 2022 as having been “an amazing year” for the fledgling P2P lender, as he announced it had secured a new £40m investment from new and existing investors.
Lendwise
Founded by Rishi Zaveri, Ioannis Georgiou, Kypros Mouzouros and Evangelos Skianis in 2018 as a P2P lending platform specialising in education finance, Lendwise launched the first education-backed Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) this summer. The platform offers student loans from between £5,000 and £100,000, and personal loans between £3,000 and £25,000. For investors, it estimates returns of up to 9.0 per cent per year. Speaking to Peer2Peer Finance News in June, Zaveri said: “Our loan book has already gone beyond the £25m mark. We have some loans that can be as high as £100,000.”
Shojin
Real estate investment platform Shojin has been operating since 2009 and was co-founded by chief executive Jatin Ondhia. The platform provides access to institutional-grade investment opportunities in the UK real estate sector to investors around the world. In September, Shojin announced plans to launch a Jersey-incorporated fund later this year as part of a plan to expand its core offerings. To date, Shojin has raised more than £34m to fund more than £200m worth of real estate development across 29 projects. While the company’s focus is still largely on UK-based property assets, it has recently expanded into new jurisdictions such as Israel and India.
Assetz Exchange
Part of the wider Assetz Group of companies; Assetz Exchange is a crowdfunding property investment platform focused on the purchase and leasing of housing with social impact. In May, Assetz Exchange reported it had been a record year so far, with more than £4m in property purchased and leased. With an active portfolio of social, student and elderly housing, Assetz Exchange is also making moves to finalise its first purchases in the non-elderly residential care sector, with two care homes let to a private, well established, healthcare provider of mental health services.
Qardus
Islamic P2P lending platform Qardus provides Shariah-compliant finance to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Launched in July 2020, Qardus is an appointed representative of Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)-regulated ShareIn. With an ambition to be the first Islamic SME challenger bank globally, the platform, which is open to both Muslim and non-Muslim investors in the UK and Europe, has a minimum investment of £100 and has average projected net returns of 13.4 per cent per year. Loans are offered in the form of a commodity murabahah – an Islamic financing structure in which the seller and buyer agree to the cost and mark-up of an asset.
Read more: Shariah-compliant platforms carve out P2P niche
The Money Platform
Launched in 2016, The Money Platform was the first authorised short-term P2P lender in the UK. The platform was developed within the FCA’s Project Innovate incubator program. The platform enables borrowers and lenders to transact in amounts between £250 and £1,000 for a period of between three weeks and three months. Money is lent and borrowed for between 0.7 per cent and 0.8 per cent interest per day. The Money Platform grew its lending volumes by 83 per cent last year, to reach £6.6m. In the 12 months ending 31 January 2022, the platform achieved more than £1m of revenue, up around 260 per cent on its pre-Covid levels.
Read more: Exclusive interview with The Money Platform’s George Huntley
“This year’s Rising Stars contenders all demonstrate that entrepreneurs continue to innovate to provide funding in under-served parts of the market”, Mike Carter, head of platform lending at the 36H Group, said.
Read more: Introducing the P2P CEO of the year contenders
“It’s important to celebrate their progress to date because they have successfully navigated their businesses through the Covid crisis despite the significant challenges of the crisis for the lending market.
“Looking forward as the economy moves into recession, it’s vital that the founders all remain focused on customer satisfaction, both borrowers and lenders, because ultimately this is what will create a lasting franchise.”
The winner will be announced at the inaugural Peer2Peer Finance Awards on Tuesday 6 December 2022.