It was announced today that Linked Finance has secured backing from French investment group, Eiffel Investment Group, on funding of up to 20% for new loans listed on the platform.
Launched in 2013, Linked Finance is an Irish P2P lending platform. With thousands of registered users, Linked Finance connects local businesses who need loans with an online lending community of ordinary members of the public, institutions and other investors who are ready to lend to Irish SMEs at attractive interest rates.
Eiffel’s dedicated online lending team has been involved in the space since 2011. It currently manages close to €200m on behalf of several multi-billion institutional investors across a range of leading P2P platforms including Lendix in France and Funding Circle in the UK.
The agreement will further boost liquidity on Linked Finance’s platform which has already provided loans to more than 700 SME since its launch. With plans to further accelerate lending in 2017, Linked Finance’s ultimate goal is to become the country’s biggest source of non-bank SME finance.
Eiffel’s online lending activity is backed by several large insurance companies including Aviva France, AG2R La Mondiale. One of their key objectives is to finance loans for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) via lending platforms in France and Europe.
Linked Finance is already in talks with other leading institutional investors, in Ireland and internationally, and they are actively looking for further funding partners who want to deploy capital via the site.
Commenting on the deal, Chief Executive Officer of Linked Finance, Niall Dorrian said, "This agreement with Eiffel is a vote of confidence in Linked Finance’s business model and recognises our strong growth trajectory. Eiffel monitors over 100 lending platforms worldwide. They know the industry well and what it takes to succeed."
They added, "A diverse funding mix is important for our long-term development. Eiffel’s support will complement our existing lenders, ordinary members of the Irish public, who will still continue to play a crucial role in helping us to fulfil our mission of providing fast and affordable finance for Ireland’s SME sector."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
