We’ve just completed a €2m investment round that will power the growth of the platform in the months and years ahead. You can read the full press release below…
Linked Finance Raises €2m in Equity to Power Expansion
Group of lenders join Frontline Ventures to complete the round
Linked Finance, Ireland’s leading P2P (Peer-to-Peer) lending platform, has raised €2m in equity funding to support its plans for expansion. The funding round was led by the company’s original venture capital backers, Frontline Ventures. They were joined by a group of 28 individual investors who are all active lenders on the Linked Finance platform.
The fundraising comes at an exciting time for the company, having recently appointed former Ryanair Deputy CEO, Michael Cawley, to the role of Chairman and completed its 1000th loan for an Irish SME in September.
Linked Finance has now lent over €34.5m to Irish SMEs since its launch in 2013, with more than €16.9m already repaid to Linked Finance lenders.
Linked Finance plans to use the funds raised to support ambitious expansion plans. The company intends to establish P2P lending as a mainstay of the SME lending landscape in Ireland; replicating the type of success that this innovative form of funding has already seen in markets like the US and the UK.
Since its establishment in 2013, Linked Finance has pioneered P2P lending in Ireland. Its market-leading platform has demonstrated that there is a real appetite among Irish SMEs for new and innovative paths to funding. Lending on the site has effectively doubled each year and 2017 has been a transformational year for the business, with total loans in the first 6 months of the year up 243%.
This equity raise will provide Linked Finance with the resources needed to ramp up sales & marketing activity; raising awareness of P2P lending and bringing the benefits of the Linked Finance platform to a much wider audience of Irish business owners.
Commenting on the fundraising, Niall Dorrian, CEO of Linked Finance said:
“It is fantastic that we have been able to practice what we preach, harnessing the power of the crowd to open this investment round to some of our most active users. These lenders are people who know the platform inside out, they know what it’s like to lend on the site and they really believe in what we do. It’s great to have them on board, and also to have the continuing support of Frontline Ventures.”
Investor in the funding round and Linked Finance lender, David Holohan, said:
“I’ve been actively lending to Irish businesses on Linked Finance for a number of years and I’m a big fan of the platform. So when the opportunity arose to take a stake in the business and help drive the growth of P2P lending in Ireland, it was an easy decision. I firmly believe that this innovative form of funding will transform the SME lending landscape in Ireland over the next few years, making it easier for Irish business owners to access the capital they need to grow their businesses.”
ENDS
