London’s on a roll with producing billion-dollar tech companies.
The latest entrant? Peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle, which lets members of the public and some organisations make loans to small businesses.
The London-based tech start-up is set to raise £50m in the next two months. The new funding, according to the Sunday Times, will give Funding Circle a $1bn valuation.
However, a spokesperson from Funding Circle told us that this is all speculation at the moment.
Funding Circle was founded in 2010 by Samir Desai (CEO), James Meekings (CMO) and Andrew Mullinger. The tech start-up boasts high profile investors including Betfair co-founder Ed Wray and Carphone Warehouse co-founder Charles Dunstone.
Here are 5 things you should know about Funding Circle:
1. Funding Circle is the world’s leading marketplace exclusively focused on small businesses. More than £550m has been lent to UK businesses to date. Over $850m has been lent to 8,000 businesses globally.
2. Since launching, Funding Circle has raised $123m in equity capital from investors who backed Facebook, Twitter, Skype and Betfair.
3. Funding Circle has over 37,000 active investors registered and over 8,000 businesses have borrowed from the company.
4. Funding Circle lends £35m to small businesses every month.
5. The average loan amount is £60,000 and businesses can borrow up to £1m.
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