Exclusive: LendInvest co-founder Christian Faes launches new venture

A new lending focused investment firm is set to be launched by Christian Faes, the co-founder and non-executive chair of LendInvest.

Faes, who co-founded LendInvest in 2008, recently moved to Los Angeles where he has set up Faes & Co, which will focus on building and investing in technology-enabled direct lending businesses, alongside its own private credit fund.

The Faes & Co Income Fund will invest in asset backed loans originated through the deal flow of the businesses that the wider group will incubate and help scale.

“I’ve learnt a lot from the long journey of building LendInvest, and in recent years investing in various fintech lenders, helping build Onate and the Fintech Founders group," said Faes.

"I’m looking forward to rolling this experience into the new firm as we build out our first US-focused lender F2 Finance, and launch the Faes & Co Income Fund," he said.

Faes founded LendInvest in 2008, shortly after moving from his native Australia as of the UK’s first property-focused fintech lenders.

The company, which counts a number of high-profile banks and asset managers among its lending partners such as J.P. Morgan, PIMCO, Barclays and HSBC, has £3.7bn in funds under management. 

It listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2021, with Faes having moved to the role of executive chairman from CEO the year before.

“When I arrived in the UK in 2008 and launched what would become LendInvest, it was a period of total market disruption, which turned out to be an opportune time to be starting out on that journey. In many respects, the current market has a similar feel to it, and I’m excited to be starting out on this journey now in the US," Faes said.

“The vast majority of financial services remains dominated by deeply entrenched incumbents that are burdened by legacy technology, people and processes. The new breed of entrepreneurs building finance companies today, are using technology and a modern approach, to provide customers with a far superior offering. I think this is in the early days of where this will go, and we want to build a firm that is an expert in building these businesses, backing great founders, and providing investors with superior risk adjusted returns from this transformation,” Faes added.