But the fundraise is yet to close, with further tranches of investment expected.
Zopa has hauled in £44m in its largest fundraise to date, but the raise has been called ‘the first stage’ of a larger funding round.
This portion of the investment comes from existing investors.
Zopa has been forced to disclose the round prior to its closing due to the presence of two listed investors in its capital structure. TruFin, a holding company spun out of alternative asset manager Arrowgrass, and investment trust Augmentum have each seen significant NAV uplifts following Zopa’s latest fundraise.
A stock market update from TruFin states that the fundraise implies an £8m increase in its Zopa stake, from the £36.5m reported on 31 December 2017 to £44.5m.
The firm last raised money in June 2017, in a round led by Indian conglomerate Wadhawan Group took.
It is currently in the midst of building out a next-generation bank, which will function alongside its peer-to-peer platform. The firm is currently going through the authorisation process, and could receive its licence later this year.
Zopa achieved full-year profitability for the first time in a number of years in 2017, posting £1.5m in profit. Recently, the company has been linked with IPO rumours.
While Zopa, which lends to consumers, is credited with creating the peer-to-peer industry, it was another platform, Funding Circle, which first applied the model to small business lending. Funding Circle is expected to go public later this year, and is targeting a £1.5bn raise.
Jaidev Janardana (pictured), Zopa’s CEO, said in a statement: “We aim to be the best place for money in the UK and we believe that launching our bank is a key next step. It allows us to offer a wider choice of products and to help our customers make smarter choices with their money. This further injection of capital takes us a step closer to that vision and we are delighted that our investors have supported us on this journey.”
Zopa has lent a little over £3.5bn to date, according to AltFi Data.
Sign up for our newsletters
Companies in this Article:
