P2P Loans Now Offered on the Funding Network

A short update on Symbid, which is now offering loan based crowdfunding alongside its core equity product.

Symbid is the Dutch equity crowdfunding platform behind the Funding Network – a multi-faceted aggregator that has been in and out of the AltFi headlines a lot lately. The Network offers users 8 different types of funding to users, ranging from traditional sources like Leasing and Venture Capital, to equity crowdfunding, and now to loan-based crowdfunding.

A few weeks ago, the Funding Network partnered with Catena – an offshoot of European treasury and risk management firm Zanders. Catena is making INRISC (a credit risk assessment and pricing service) available to the Network’s investors. INRISC will offer analysis and pricing of all loans on behalf of the investor. The platform also emphasizes the high level of transparency that its monitoring tools offer to investors.

Korstiaan Zandvliet, Co-Founder and CEO of Symbid, explained:

“We’re delighted to launch our own loan crowdfunding product within the service offering of The Funding Network™. By bringing peer-to-business loans in-house we’re staking our claim as the go-to European platform for entrepreneurs in search of funding. With a monthly transaction volume above $50 million, The Funding Network™ by Symbid is now connecting alternative and traditional finance. Using our advanced monitoring tool and independent pricing, we’re confident that loan crowdfunding at Symbid is an improvement on the current market standard. Giving investors ongoing insights into the performance of the business means full transparency and professionalism. This launch is a big milestone in our mission of simplifying the way small businesses are funded.”

Unusually, interest from the Symbid loans will be repaid to investors on a quarterly basis. A law firm that specialises in alternative finance by the name of FIZ lawyers is providing legal support for the new lending product. 

The first of these new loans will (if successfully funded) be extended to CareRate – a healthcare review app. The loan is now live on the Network, advertising a 5.5% fixed return to investors. The deal carries a 4 star (out of 5) “Creditsafe Score” – which was presumably awarded by Catena – and is 17% complete at present.