Irish P2P lender Linked Finance reaches €200m lending milestone

Fast-growing Irish lender Linked Finance has now surpassed €200m worth of lending to over 3,300 SMEs since launching in 2013.

The fresh milestone comes just 18 months after Linked Finance reached its last €150m milestone.

Linked Finance CEO Niall O’Grady says the lender will lend €45m to SMEs in 2022 and is on track to reach annual lending of €100m by the end of 2024.

O’Grady said the Irish peer-to-peer lender was “particularly important when the banks are either too slow for SMEs or leaving the country completely.” 

“Our platform regularly connects Irish SMEs with retail lenders who recognise their enormous potential and want to invest in them.”

Investors on the platform have earned €19.4m in interest since 2013, with typical annualised returns of more than 8 per cent for an investor with a diversified portfolio of around 50 loans.

In the last year, Linked Finance has introduced an open banking-powered credit application process for SMEs, launched a Merchant Cash Advance product in March and raised its maximum loan size in June from €300,000 to €500,000.

“Linked Finance is introducing new products and increasing limits on existing loans to ensure we stay ahead of the banks,” added O’Grady.

“We pride ourselves on providing a model that is efficient and transparent, allowing Irish businesses to take control of their finances and meet their objectives.”

Much of the platform’s recent growth has come from the retail, transport and construction sectors, with Dublin (€72m) and Cork (€17m) being its biggest cities for lending over the last nine years.