VC-backed Funding Circle seeks to raise £300m from IPO

Kenny Wastell
04 September 2018

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VC-backed peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle has announced its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange.

The business said in a statement that it intends to raise £300m from the placement, which would value the company at around £1.5bn according to the Daily Mail, in line with the £1-2bn range reported by Sky News in January this year.

The proposed listing would also see some existing shares in the business sold. The fresh capital would enable the company to pursue international expansion.

The peer-to-peer lending platform has raised more than £250m over six funding rounds, according to Unquote Data.

London-based VC firm Index Ventures was among the earliest backers, leading a £2.5m series-A round in April 2011 before teaming up with Union Square Ventures for a £10m series-B a year later.

The company's US launch was supported by a $37m series-C round led by Accel Partners in October 2013, and another US VC firm, Ribbit Capital, joined to provide a $65m series-D in July 2014.

Since then, Funding Circle has continued to expand internationally and has secured two additional large funding rounds. It raised a $150m series-E from global investment firm BlackRock and Singapore-based Temasek in April 2015, and an £82m series-F from all previous investors including UK investment firm Baillie Gifford and German VC Rocket Internet in January 2017.

Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are acting as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the process, while Numis Securities will act as joint bookrunner.

Founded in 2010, Funding Circle is a peer-to-peer lending marketplace that facilitates investments from a wide range of individuals and financial institutions. It mainly caters to small businesses seeking capital from a wide range of investors, claiming to improve competition in the market, create jobs and reduce dependency on bank lending. The business generated a turnover of £94.5m in 2017, according to publicly available documents.