| Deadpool Date | 10/08 |
| Deadpool URL | prosperlending.bl... |
| Website | zopa.com |
| Blog | blog.zopa.com |
| Category | Communications |
| Employees | |
| Founded | 3/05 |
| Description | P2P Lending |
| Total | $33.9M |
| Series A, 2005 | $1M |
| Series B, 3/06 Benchmark Capital Bessemer Venture Partners Wellington Partners | $15M |
| Series B, 7/06 Timothy Draper | $5M |
| Series C, 3/07 Benchmark Capital Bessemer Venture Partners Wellington Partners | $12.9M |
Zopa is a P2P social money lending service that allows lenders and borrowers to deal directly with one another, cutting out the banks who act as middlemen. Zopa works in the following way: the company first categorizes borrower credit scores with an A*, A, B, or C rating; then lenders make offers that vary by money amount and time period for persons with a certain credit score; and borrowers can then choose an offered rate. So by eliminating the “middleman,” Zopa takes on such responsibilities as distributing money between parties, completing the legal paperwork, performing borrower identity/credit checks, and employing a collections agency that chases missed payments for the lender. Zopa also mitigates risk for lenders by enforcing monthly direct debit repayment, making borrowers sign a legal contract, and allowing lenders to lend small chunks of money to individual borrowers (i.e. someone lending $1000 would have their money spread across say 50 borrowers). The company itself makes money by charging a 0.5% transaction fee for borrowers and 0.5% annual fee for lenders. Zopa has received public acclaim as well, having been awarded CNET Technology Awards’ 2006 Internet Innovation of the Year, the 2007 Webby Award for Best Banking/Bill-Paying Website, and the Banker 2007 Award for Best Internet Project. Other P2P lending services include Lending Club, Prosper, and Kiva.
| Website | zopa.com |
| Stage | Live |
| Tags | money-management |
