A peer-to-peer (P2P) startup based in the UK called the Fund Circle has successfully raised a capital of $100 million. The news caught my attention because not even BREXIT could prevent the growth of businesses based in the north of United Kingdom.
Beanvestor.com
Key Investors
The sanction was passed in the presence of Accel, a multinational capital firm, including three other existing and successful investors of the Fund Circle named, DST Global, Index Ventures, and Temasek.
James Meekings, the current CEO of FundCircle reported to CNBC,
“We are a fintech business and we are all about delivering a world class service to businesses and investors and to make sure we have the best product we imagine. We wanted to raise more funds to invest in our technology.”
How is P2P going to be different?
The online P2P money lending activity is relatively new for businesses or startups that require capital; more importantly, the service involves fewer complications for customers who seek for investments, unlike the existing banking outlets we come across every day outside.
Funding Circle’s primary task is to connect individual firms with other investors who could be individuals from various occupations having the ability to invest. The loan seekers eventually have to return the money along with interest, which is later distributed among other investors by Funding Circle itself.
Current state of P2P industry
Funding Circle has successfully managed to lend over 2.5 billion pounds ($3.07mil) internationally in 2016. Currently, the company has offices located in San Francisco, Berlin, and the Netherlands. Moreover, the company has its largest market in the UK worth of $981mil.
Despite so many opportunities currently made available for the startup, the intensity of competition in the P2P industry has risen. Especially, more capital lending providers like the UK’s Funding Tree and Seedrs have entered the market. Which has the potential to expand by 53% per year starting from 2016 that will persist till 2020!
The founder of Funding Capital also reported to CNBC,
“We 100 per cent believe what the FCA came out with. People lend money through our platform so it’s only right they understand the risk and they see the return they are earning,”
James Meekings also added that the business is still in its investment phase; hence, it is yet to become more profitable in the future. However, positive cash flow will soon start from the fourth quarter proving the reliability of Fund Circle’s business model.
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