In the UK 7 innovative finance companies have joined forces and launched the Alternativebusinessfunding.co.uk website to inform SMEs what alternative funding methods they offer. Two p2p lending services Zopa and Funding Circle, two p2p equity (crowdinvesting) services Crowdcube and Seedrs as well as three other services Pension-Led Funding, Platform Black and MarketInvoice participate in this non-bank funders collaberation. These platforms account for 85% of alternative finance for businesses market and have provided more than 580 million GBP to SMEs between them. Screenshot
The information website works like this: 1. Enter the amount of funding you require. 2. After each question you will see the lights change dependant on which funder suits your criteria. 3. At the final question click on any green (or amber) traffic lights for your preferred funder details. 4. All that is left now is for you to approach your funder of choice about sourcing SME finance.
In Australia Reinventure Group, the new WestpacÂ-funded venture capital manager, has invested $5 million in p2p lending service Societyone. Society One, which was founded in August 2012 (see related earlier coverage) by Matt Symons and Greg Symons has originated about 200 loans totalling 4 million AUD. The loan book has doubled in the past six months. Westpac’s VC fund will be joined on the SocietyOne shareholder register by Rocket Internet, which is already funding Lendico, and several local investors including the Australian head of global private equity giant KKR, ÂJustin Reizes, who said he has invested in Society One in a personal capacity.The 8.5 million capital raising will allow Society One to develop new credit products. It recently launched livestock loans and loans tailored for young doctors which are being offered to sophisticated investors through its internet-based platform.
Today Lendico launched its p2p lending service in Poland. Poland is the third market Lendico serves, after Germany and Spain. Loan amounts can be between 1,000 and 50,000 PLN (approx 16,400 US$). Loan terms are from 1 to 5 years and interest rates range from 5.82% to 14.99%. Currently there are 8 open loan listings. Lendico maintains an office in Warsaw. There are already other p2p lending service operating in Poland (e.g. Kokos and Finansowo – which in 2010 merged with Smava Poland).
From the polish press release:
Na polskim rynku finansowym pojawił się nowy gracz: Lendico. To nowoczesna platforma pożyczek społecznościowych, która w bezpieczny sposób łączy pożyczkobiorców z osobami zainteresowanymi korzystną lokatą własnego kapitału. Dzięki temu pozwala uzyskiwać pożyczki na korzystnych warunkach oraz daje perspektywy inwestycji o wysokiej stopie zwrotu. W ten sposób Lendico oferuje produkt niedostępny dla klientów tradycyjnych banków.
Barclays Africa Group Limited (BAGL) has acquired a 49% stake in South African p2p lending service Rainfin. The investment amount is stated to be ‘tens of millions of rands’. Rainfin says it wants to use the money to grow the business and improve the product.
We have known for a while that we would need a partner to take RainFin to the next level, and chose BAGL after a loan search because it has a vision that aligns closely with ours. BAGL’s support will enable us to offer exciting new products in areas such as supply chain finance, enterprise development funding, fixed asset purchases and even mid-sized corporate debt. It will also clear the way for us to expand into new markets.
The BAGL investment in RainFin comes at a time when there is a lot of movement in the global peer-to-peer industry from the UK and US to China and India. In the US, peer-to-peer lenders such as Lending Club and Prosper are enjoying triple digit growth and venture capital firms like Sequoia Capital and Blackrock are investing in the industry.
Worldwide, we see banks, hedge funds, and institutional investors all exploring ways to collaborate with peer-to-peer lenders with City Group, Capital one, Bank of Montreal and Deuce Bank buying up loans originated through those platforms. With institutions moving into the market, peer-to-peer loans have truly come of age. BAGL will do the same to make our concept of peer-to-peer lending a mainstream finance option in South Africa.
Whether you’re a lender or borrower, rest assured that our main focus remains on bringing together creditworthy borrowers and smart lenders so that both parties can benefit. Our platform will remain as transparent as ever, and we will continue to put you first as we move forward into the future with our partners at BAGL.
We thank you for your early support of our business and of the early stages of peer to peer lending in South Africa. We look forward to moving into the future with you and with our new partners at BAGL.
Update: An earlier version of this article reported figures which were not up to date. Please see the comment by CEO Sean Emery for recent figures.
Peter Renton, well known blogger at Lendacademy and founder of the Lendit Conference starts a fund (Lend Academy Investments LLC) that will invest in p2p loans at Prosper, Lending Club and Funding Circle. Co-founders are Jason Jones, a former hedge-fund manager, and Bo Brustkern, a valuation expert. The fund will raise 28 million US$ this year and aims to raise 100 million US$ from investors by the end of 2015.
Even though February was a short month, several p2p lending services topped their January loan volume. Even more impressive is the continued year on year growth. 3 more services were added to the table. I do monitor development of p2p lending figures for many markets. Since I already have most of the data on file I can publish statistics on the monthly loan originations for selected p2p lending services.
Table: P2P Lending Volumes in February 2014. Source: own research Note that volumes have been converted from local currency to US$ for the sake of comparison. Some figures are estimates/approximations.
Notice to p2p lending services not listed: If you want to be included in this chart in future, please email the following figures on the first working day of a month: total loan volume originated since inception, loan volume originated in previous month, number of loans originated in previous month, average nominal interest rate of loans originated in previous month.
