Lending Works has received £2.8 million in funding in a round led by Maven Capital Partners, with £800,000 of backing from Pollen Street Capital and NVM Private Equity. The UK peer to peer lender said proceeds will be used to fuel growth including loan customer acquisition via other channels.
Founded in 2014, Lending Works has originated approximately £115 million in loans with £32 million (27%) in the first half of 2018. – 27% of which (£32 million) was distributed in the first half of 2018 alone. Lending Works expects to originate £100 million in loans during 2018. The P2P lender is also a member of the UK Peer to Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) – the association that represents leading P2P platforms.
Nicholas Harding, CEO at Lending Works, said they were pleased with the investment noting that they have very ambitious plans to improve the consumer credit market for customers and “build a business that funds billions of pounds a year.”
“This investment will enable us to continue on that journey. The team at Maven immediately understood our business model and is hugely supportive of our growth strategy. We look forward to working with them to take the business from strength to strength.”
Melanie Goward, Investment Director at Maven, said that Lending Works has developed a reputation for being a “responsible and ethical P2P market leaders.” She said this was evidenced by the fact they were the first major platform full authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. She added that Lending Works was also the first to negotiate insurance coverage against borrower defaults.
“The experienced management team, assembled and led by Nick and Matt, has a clear and executable strategy and we look forward to helping them deliver this in the coming years.”