UK-based Sensible Lender Limited has raised GBP7 million in a first round of venture capital investments led by Venture Capital Partners to accelerate growth of its global peer-to-peer lending platform.
The remainder of the GBP17.8 million commitment is to be provided in three separate tranches over a six-month period.
Launched in 2012, Sensible Lender has more than 600 investors and over 140 borrowers from the United Kingdom with more than GBP32 million of bridging loans written with an average loan advance of GBP217,000 at an average LTV (Loan-To-Value) of 68.7 per cent. The company has already closed on GBP16.4 million in deals since January 2015, and has several properties under contract in Manchester, which it plans to close by the end of the year.
Sensible Lender uses proprietary underwriting and insight to match creditworthy property owners with lending capital sourced from private and institutional investors, family offices, and financial firms to fund loans.
The company plans to expand its business to regions beyond the UK as peer-to-peer lending is growing in popularity. A USD5.5 billion industry in 2014, it's expected to grow to USD150 billion by 2025, according to reports from accounting firm PwC.
"Our rapid growth is a true testament to the general state of the peer-to-peer lending sector at the moment," says Stuart Pearson, Managing Director of Sensible Lender Limited. "It continues to experience increasing demand for niche mortgage loan products and quality asset-backed investment opportunities from both foreign and domestic investors."
"The United Kingdom is one of the most advanced countries in the world for peer-to-peer lending with over 50 major platforms launched and we believe the opportunity for asset-backed lenders centres on meeting the unmet needs of underbanked small to medium-sized residential and commercial property owners as well as faster underwriting for customers already served by one of the major banks," adds Mark Fink, Chief Operating Officer, Sensible Lender.
