Funding Circle

Funding Circle is a peer-to-peer lending marketplace that allows investors to lend money directly to small and medium-sized businesses.[1] Funding Circle was the first website to use the process of peer-to-peer lending for business funding in the UK,[2] and now operates in the UK, US, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. As of January 2016, Funding Circle has facilitated over £1 billion in loans to small and medium-sized firms.

History

Funding Circle was launched in the UK in August 2010.[1] It received £2.5 million in funding from Index Ventures in April 2011.[4] In March 2012 Funding Circle closed a series B round of £10 million led by Index Ventures and Union Square Ventures.[5] By September 2013 Funding Circle had tripled in size and announced it had facilitated over £150 million of loans since it launched.[6] In October 2013 Funding Circle announced that it had raised a $37 million investment and would merge with Endurance Lending Network to serve the US market. Accel Partners led the round of funding along with Ribbit Capital, Union Square Ventures and Index Ventures bringing the company’s total funding to $58 million. [7][8] Since launching more than 50,000 people have registered at Funding Circle. Investors now include local councils, universities and the British Government.[9]

In April 2015 Funding Circle raised $150M in new venture funding led by DST Global, a fund managed by BlackRock, Sands Capital Ventures and Temasek Holdings. Valuing the company at over $1B, the round brought the total amount raised to $272M to date.[10] In October 2015 Funding Circle expanded operations to Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands by acquiring Zencap.
Samir is responsible for driving the company strategy, overseeing the company’s finances and managing the day to day operations at Funding Circle, the leading marketplace for business loans.  Samir  has worked extensively in the financial services sector. Before founding Funding Circle he was an executive at Olivant and  a management consultant at BCG, advising a number of major UK and global banks and insurers on strategy, new product initiatives and operational efficiency.

Investors at Funding Circle have now lent over $800 million to 8,000 small businesses in the UK and US. In the UK, investors include 37,000 individuals, the British Business Bank, local councils, universities and financial institutions.