Britain’s leading peer-to-peer lender has secured almost £100 million from backers including DST Global, an investor in Facebook and Spotify.
Funding Circle, which connects small businesses seeking loans with retail investors, raised $150 million in a round orchestrated by Goldman Sachs and joined by Baillie Gifford, the investment management firm, and a fund managed by Blackrock.
The backing, among the largest venture rounds for any private UK company in recent years, reinforces Funding Circle’s reputation as one of Britain’s most promising technology companies. It brings the total invested in the London-based business to $288 million. The company also revealed that it had hired David Yu, the former chief executive of Betfair, as its chief product officer.
Funding Circle said that it aimed to build a