Funding Circle via Stephen Pritchard | Aug 14, 2014

 Funding Circle, a leading peer-to-peer lending portal in the UK, just celebrated their 4th birthday - blog post here.

To date, Funding Circle has faciliated over £330 million to over 5,500 small businesses across the country, creating an estimated 16,500 jobs. To celebrate, we’re publishing an infographic which tracks the rise of peer-to-peer business lending right up to this year, when the industry became formally regulated.

 Infographic Highlights:

2008 - 2010

• Financial collapse of Leman Brothers -> banks retrenched and tightening lending
• Created huge financial gap with small businesses negatively impacting their ability to hire and grow
• Struggling businesses start seeking alternative sources of finance triggering a P2P lending boom in the UK and US
• More than £60 million loans were facilitated through Funding Circle in the first 30 months

View:

• NCFA hosts Crowdlending panel discussion with InvestNextDoor and GroupLend

• Time to take a peer-to-peer loan?

2013

• UK government invests £100 million in non-traditional lending channels of which £20 million was lent out through Funding Circle's marketplace within a 10 month period
• 5 local councils sign up to Funding Circle to lend small businesses to boost economic growth
• Universities start lending with all interest put towards the creation of student scholarships
• Funding Circle's marketplace grows to 30,000 lenders including government, councils and universities

2014

• FCA publishes peer to peer lending rules to provide additional consumer protections signalling the maturity of the industry
• Announced in the budget that ISA eligibility will be extended to P2P lending, making P2P a savvy option for seasoned investors
• UK government reaffirms its commitment to the peer-to-peer lending industry and loans an additional £40 million (out of a total £300 million to alternative lending channels)
• Independent research by NESTA reports that businesses borrowing through Funding Circle on average increase employment by 27%, with the portal creating a total of 16,500 jobs across the UK

 View full infographic here

View the original source --> here

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