Funding Circle, a London-based peer-to-peer lending startup, raised $100 million in Series F funding. Accel led the funding round, with additional funding from Temasek, Index Ventures and DST Global.
The startup confirms that the latest funding round is the largest for a fintech company out of Europe since Funding Circle raised $150 million. The announcement comes during a week when numerous fintech companies announced funding rounds. iZettle raised $63 million for their mobile payments startup this week.
Funding Circle has raised $375 million in funding so far.
The company lent $1.3 billion globally in 2016, with $490 million lent in the final quarter of the year. The startup operates in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. Funding Circle lends a majority of its funding to small businesses in the UK.
Investors and potential borrowers are matched on the lending platform. Investors include individuals, financial institutions and governments. Repayments are made through Funding Circle’s platform, with interest distributed to investors. The company charges an origination fee of 0.99% – 6.99% on all loans.
The origination fee is determined during the underwriting of the loan.
Funding Circle has loaned $2.5 billion to small businesses worldwide since the company was founded. Applications are quick, and funding is dispersed in as little as 10 days of approval.
P2P lending is forecasted to grow 53% annually through 2020.
Growth in 2016 allowed Funding Circle to maintain positive cash-flow. The company’s co-founder reaffirms that the company doesn’t have plans to go public. Annual returns to investors average 7%, with the company paying out more than £100 million.
Plans for the funding round are unclear. Acquisitions and expansion into further markets is possible. The platform has 60,000 investors, with 55,000 being retail investors in the UK. The company plans to expand their operations further into the United States.
The company was last valued at over $1 billion in 2015.
