Lendable reaches £3.5bn valuation as Ontario Teachers Pension Plan invests £210m

UK consumer lender Lendable has secured £210m in equity funding from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, funding that it says gives the lender a £3.5bn valuation.

Lendable, which was founded in 2014, says the cash will be used to develop new products and fund international expansion.

In a comment to the Financial Times, the firm’s CEO and founder Martin Kissinger said areas like “buy now, pay later” were on the firm’s radar.

“Our DNA from day one has been to bring transparency and fairness to consumer finance, and we are proud of the fantastic feedback we consistently receive from our customers,” said Kissinger.

Ontario Teachers was the only disclosed investor in this round, however, Lendable has previously secured debt funding lines from large institutions including Goldman Sachs, Waterfall Asset Management and NatWest.

It is unusual to see an equity investment like this from a pension fund, typically they would invest in larger public companies.

However, stock markets are in a volatile period, not just due to the war in Ukraine, but also a wider sentiment that central banks will tighten monetary policy.

Ontario Teachers has been expanding into venture and growth equity investments via its Teachers’ Innovation Platform (TIP), investing between $50 and $250 in companies, including ComplyAdvantage and Graphcore.

“We are excited to partner with TIP as we accelerate our expansion across products and markets,” added Kissinger.