Linked Finance, one of Ireland’s leading P2P lending platforms, has raised €2m in equity to power its expansion plans.
The new funding round was led by the company’s original backers, Frontline Ventures, and was accompanied by 28 individual investors who are active users of LinkedFinance.
To date, the platform has lent over €34.5m to Irish SMEs, with more than €16.9m already repaid to LinkedFinance lenders since its launch in 2013. The firm completed its 1000th loan for an Irish SME in September this year, having been granted full authorisation by the FCA in May.
The company has stated that it plans to use this new funding for the expansion of the SME lending landscape in Ireland, aiming to emulate the success of P2P lending markets in the US and the UK.
This equity raise has been earmarked to provide the resources needed to pump up its sales and marketing activity, as LinkedFinance hopes to become the mainstay platform of Irish P2P lending for SMEs.
Lending on the site has effectively doubled each year since its formation. In 2017 alone, the total loans for the first six months of the year has risen by 243 per cent.
Commenting on the new funding, Niall Dorrian, CEO of LinkedFinance, 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… It’s great to have them on board, and also to have to continuing support of Frontline Ventures.”
Elsewhere in Irish SME lending, the European Investment Fund announced in September that it would be investing €20m in ACT Venture Capital’s latest fund, ACT V. It is hoped that the combination of these fundraising efforts will boost Ireland’s reputation as one of Europe’s most active locations for tech funding.
