• TechCrunch
• CrunchBase
• More
  • TechCrunch Europe
  • TechCrunch France
  • TechCrunch Japan

Funding Circle

edit

Funding Circle is an online marketplace where people can directly lend to small businesses in the UK.

People lend small amounts to multiple creditworthy businesses to spread their risk. In turn, those businesses borrow from a multitude of people through an auction mechanism to get a lower interest rate.

Lenders are able to loan specifically to businesses in their community or businesses that meet certain criteria, such as being environmentally friendly.

Small businesses will initially be able to apply for unsecured loans of £5-50k. The businesses are checked for fraud and must meet a number of minimum credit requirements verified by the UK’s leading credit agency. Experienced underwriters then further analyse and screen businesses before allowing them onto the Funding Circle platform.

Milestones

edit

• 
  Funding Circle added Samir Desai as Co-founder and Director.
  Posted 3/5/10 at 7:06am
• 
  Funding Circle added Andrew Mullinger as Co-founder and Director.
  Posted 3/5/10 at 7:06am
• 
  Funding Circle added James Meekings as Co-founder and Director.
  Posted 3/5/10 at 7:06am
• 
  Funding Circle received $16M in Series B funding. (4/2/12)
  Posted 4/1/12 at 7:52pm via techcrunch.com
• 
  Funding Circle received $4.14M (£2.5M) in Series A funding. (4/21/11)
  Posted 4/21/11 at 5:23pm via techcrunch.com
• 
  Funding Circle received $1.1M in Angel funding. (2/12/10)
  Posted 3/5/10 at 7:06am via wiseclerk.com

Videos

Screenshots

edit

Above: Home Page
Uploaded: 7/19/11

Sources

1. Angel investors (wiseclerk.com) [edit]
2. Funding Circle, the Zopa-for-SMEs, raises £2.5m led by Index Ventures (eu.techcrunch.com) [edit]
3. Funding Circle, a Kickstarter for SMBs, Picks Up $16M From Index, Union Square Ventures (techcrunch.com) [edit]