FundingCircle Announces $65M Series D

This post was originally produced for Forbes.

FundingCircle, a British crowdfunding site that provides business loans in the UK and the US that banks generally won’t make has announced a $65 million equity investment, perhaps the single largest venture round in the history of the crowdfunding industry.

The company has indicated that the funds will be used to accelerate growth in existing markets and to explore additional international markets.

According to a statement, the recent funding round was led by Index Ventures and includes existing investors. Bob Steel, CEO of Perella Weinberg Partners and former Under Secretary for Domestic Finance of the United States Treasury, will join the Funding Circle board.

On July 17, 2014 at 11:30 AM, Funding Circle CEO Samir Desai, will join me live from London for a discussion about the round and its implications for the company and the industry.

More about Funding Circle:

Funding Circle (www.fundingcircle.com) is the world’s leading online marketplace for business loans, enabling investors to directly lend to small businesses in both the UK and the US. Since launching in the UK in 2010 Funding Circle has now lent more than $500 million to over 5,000 businesses, and currently lends $50 million per month.

In the US, Funding Circle’s online marketplace allows accredited investors and institutions to invest in small businesses seeking to borrow $25,000 to $500,000 through whole loans or a passive fund. By combining cutting edge technology with industry-leading risk management models, Funding Circle provides small businesses with access to fast, fair and transparent finance and investors with the opportunity to access attractive returns at fixed income risk levels through an online marketplace. In 2014, Funding Circle expects to lend $100 million to American small businesses.

In the UK, businesses can borrow between £5,000 and £1 million, while investors can earn a 6.1%* average return after fees and bad debt. Since launching in August 2010 Funding Circle has helped over 5,000 businesses borrow more than £300 million. Investors include thousands of individuals, the Government-backed British Business Bank, local councils, financial organisations and Huddersfield University. Funding Circle was the first marketplace lender to announce a formal referral partnership with Santander, one of the UK’s leading high street banks.

Desai’s bio:

Samir is responsible for driving the company strategy, overseeing the company’s finances and managing the day to day operations at Funding Circle. Samir has worked extensively in the financial services sector.

Before founding Funding Circle, Samir was an Executive at Olivant, a private equity investor in financial services businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Prior to this, Samir was a management consultant at BCG advising a number of major UK and global banks and insurers on strategy, new product initiatives, and operational efficiency.

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