Zopa’s Record Lending Figures Suggest a Healthy U.K. P2P Lending Sector

Zopa’s Record Lending Figures Suggest a Healthy U.K. P2P Lending Sector

P2P lending platform Zopa not only announced its move back into profitability, it also released a handful of metrics suggesting growth sustainability in the P2P industry.

After the U.K.-based company was founded in 2005, it reached profitability in 2011 and continued that momentum until 2012. Five years later, and after a bit of restructuring, Zopa achieved revenues of $61 million (£46.5 million) in 2017. This represents 40% year-over-year growth from the company’s 2016 revenues of $23.5 million (£33.2 million).

The company attributes the growth to its increased focus on tech innovation, especially offering instant feedback on loan approvals, as well as its efforts to expand its customer base through partnerships. The boost in growth is also thanks to a rise in loan volumes. In 2016, the company lent out $906 million (£690 million) and last year increased it’s loan volume by 43% to $1.3 million (£985 million).

In a press release Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana said, “2017 was a landmark for us. We’re proud to see the company’s efforts reflected in our record lending figures, profitability and strong customer growth…. We’ve invested significantly in technology, in our proprietary back office infrastructure, and in our people, all of which have helped Zopa to continue to scale and grow sustainably.”

Some of those investments Janardana alluded to include the announcement of plans to launch a challenger bank; receiving full FCA authorization in May of last year; and, in 2018, restructuring the company with the appointment of a trio of new C-level hires. Helping to sustain this growth is a $41 million investment the company received about a year ago from Wadhawan Global Capital of India and Northzone.

These positive revenue figures as well as the increase in loan growth allude to the health of the overall P2P lending sector in the U.K. In fact, the U.K. P2P Finance Association (P2PFA) reports that, since the second quarter of 2017, growth in the U.K.-based P2P lending sector has a whole has increased more than 40% from $8.4 billion (£6.4 billion) to $11.7 billion (£9 billion) in the first quarter of 2018.

Much of this growth, the organization described, is thanks to an uptick in business borrowing. This may explain the region’s difference compared to the U.S., where P2P lending has fallen slightly out of favor– thanks to a decrease in both lenders and investors, as well as recent regulatory scrutiny. To let numbers speak for themselves, Lending Club’s market cap has fallen from $9.3 billion at its peak in 2015 to its current $1.6 billion.

Zopa’s former CEO Doug Dolton debuted the P2P lending platform at FinovateSpring 2008 at Finovate’s very first show in the Bay Area. Zopa co-founder Giles Andrews is now CEO. Last spring, the company unveiled its latest offering, the Innovative Finance ISA, the first tool to expand the company’s focus into broader banking products. Earlier this spring, Zopa ranked 278 on the FT 1000, the Financial Times’ list of the fastest growing companies in Europe.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate

  • Additiv Partners with Orange Business to Bring Digital Wealth Management to FIs.
  • Zopa’s Record Lending Figures Suggest a Healthy U.K. P2P Lending Sector.

Around the web

  • Iraq’s Banque Liban-Francaise completes upgrade to Temenos’ T24 core banking system.
  • P2P lender Zopa announces 40% revenue growth and a return to profitability.
  • Ohpen signs LeasePlan Bank as its latest customer.
  • Efigence implements technological side of Alior Bank open banking project.
  • Open Bank Project collaborates with Citizens Bank hackathon.
  • The World Economic Forum names Neener Analytics as a Technology for Integrity 2018.
  • YellowDog wins Business Innovation Award at inaugural Best New Business Awards.
  • Finicity forges data sharing agreement with USAA.
  • MapD debuts MapD 4.0 for interactive location intelligence at scale.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • doxo Teams with Coinstar to Facilitate Cash Payments for Underbanked.
  • Agreement Express Lands Funding from Frontier Capital.
  • Low-Code Development Platform OutSystems Forges Strategic Partnership with Atos.

Around the web

  • Iowa City-based Farmers & Merchants and Savings Bank to deploy Fiserv’s retail and business banking platform.
  • Zopa announces restructuring in advance of the launch of its challenger bank.
  • PYMNTS.com features Trulioo CEO Stephen Ufford in a conversation about the present and future of KYC.
  • Santander introduces its Santander One Pay FX service, a blockchain-based money transfer offering that leverages Ripple’s xCurrent technology.
  • Meniga CEO Georg Ludviksson selected as one of top 200 Fintech leaders in Europe
  • NuCypher teams with Origin Protocol to control access to sensitive information in decentralized marketplaces.
  • Efigence powers concept, UX, and design for BGŻOptima Bank’s new portal.
  • PYMNTS.com profiles anti-cyberfraud startup, Emailage.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

Around the web

  • PaySimple announces latest payment integration with Profit Rhino’s selling app for home service companies.
  • The Financial Times ranks Transferwise, Kantox, Zopa Featurespace, Trustly, Kreditech on its FT 1000 list of Europe’s fastest growing companies.
  • Jumio and Insights Network partner to deliver “Passport” for blockchain projects.
  • LendingTree launches Credit Analyzer, a free credit and debt analysis tool.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Fenergo Forges Strategic Partnership with Arachnys.
  • Personetics Powers New Intelligent Financial Assistant Didi from Israel Discount Bank.

Around the web

  • Thomson Reuters introduces investment research marketplace on Eikon to further MiFID II compliance
  • Xero opens new Wellington headquarters.
  • Trustly to expand its Pay N Play gaming payment product.
  • Zopa’s investor community lends 3 billionth pound to U.K. consumers.
  • Pendo Systems targets the insurance sector with Pendo Machine Learning Platform.
  • InComm expands gift card assortment in grocery partners with new brand offerings.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Japanese Telecom NTT to Distribute Trusona Technology in Japan.
  • RealtyMogul Introduces new President, Aaron Halfacre.
  • Tradeshift Launches Innovation Center to Bring the Blockchain to Business Commerce.
  • Payfone Teams Up with U.K. Mobile Network Operator.
  • Expensify Reports More than 1 Million New Users and Double the Partnerships in 2017.

Around the web

  • Auto Finance Excellence talks with AutoGravity CTO Sheng Wang, who discusses the company’s new security features.
  • Sam Maule talks with Kabbage founder Rob Frohwein.
  • F&M Bank selects Geezeo to enhance digital banking.
  • Kantox partners with BELLIN to help support SMEs expanding globally.
  • Mitek and IdentityMind announce integration to enhance their digital ID verification capacities.
  • Zopa re-opens its platform for new customers.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Zopa Boosts Executive Ranks with Trio of C-Level Hires

Zopa Boosts Executive Ranks with Trio of C-Level Hires

En route to its launch of a next generation challenger bank later this year, P2P lender Zopa is staffing up its executive ranks. The company announced today that it was appointing a new Chief Financial Officer, Chief Risk Officer, and Chief Customer Officer.

At the post of CFO, Steve Hulme comes to Zopa after a stint as CFO for Tandem Money. Previous to Tandem Money, Hulme was CFO for PayPal’s global credit business and CFO for Capital One’s business in the U.K. and Canada. He was educated at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, earning a BA in Geography.

Taking the helm as Chief Risk Officer is Phillip Dransfield. With a Masters in Commerce, Finance, and Banking from UNSW and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Wollongong, Dransfield held executive positions at TSB Bank and Lloyds Banking Group.

Zopa also hired a new Chief Customer Officer to start the new year. Clare Gambardella previously worked in a number of capacities for Virgin Active, and ended her tenure at the health club, gym, and spa network as Chief Marketing Officer. Also a veteran of the Boston Consulting Group, Gambardella was educated at the University of Cambridge, where she earned a degree in English Literature.

“We’re delighted to have three high profile and exceptionally talented people join the business,” Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana said. “Our people are our biggest competitive advantage and these additions further strengthen our position.”

Along with the $41 million (£32 million) investment the company picked up last summer, the new hires are part of the preparation for the launch of Zopa Bank. The challenger bank will offer customers personal and auto loans, flat rate credit cards, and savings and investment products. “We’re uniquely placed to make the next generation bank a leader in consumer finance combining our customer-centric culture, agile technology and data excellence with a track record of loan origination and risk management,” Janardana wrote in a blog post last fall. “No other provider has this combination of attributes.”

Zopa made its Finovate debut in 2008. The London-based company* was founded in 2005 and has raised more than $112 million in funding. Named to the European Fintech 100 and ranked in the Inc. 5000, Zopa partnered with fellow Finovate alum Aire last fall and opened a new development center in Barcelona, Spain last summer.

*Updated to reflect Zopa headquarters in London.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Xero Teams with DBS on Small Business Account Feeds.
  • Zopa Boosts Executive Ranks with Trio of C-Level Hires.
  • SoFi’s Choice: Former Twitter COO Anthony Noto to Take Helm as New CEO.
  • Trulioo Launches KYC Tool to Connect MNOs.
  • Juvo Receives Investment from Samsung to Boost Smartphone Usage Among Underbanked.

Around the web

  • Atomico uses Quid for the 2017 State of European Tech report.
  • Bobsguide interviews Lisa Shields, CEO of FI.SPAN.
  • Thomson Reuters unveils Wizcorp, a digital gateway that will provide customers with data on more than 1.8 million Indian private companies.
  • FICO partners with European regulatory risk analytics consultancy, 4most.
  • Finastra announces new partners to its FusionFabric.cloud open architecture.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  •  Luxoft Acquires UNAFORTIS to Broaden Client Base within Financial Services.
  • EVRY Announces Five-Year, $18.7 Million Deal with Finland’s Aktia Bank.
  • OurCrowd Opens Office in Spain, Lays Down Roots with Strategic Partnership.

Around the web

  • Trulioo launches its Global Business Verification service.
  • Diebold partnership with Transguard to expand service and technology offerings in the UAE.
  • Ethiopia’s Cooperative Bank of Oromia goes live with core banking solution from Temenos.
  • Pindrop Security leverages machine learning and a “customer consortium of shared fraudsters” to introduce Pindrop Protect 4.0.
  • Quovo unveils new account authentication solution, Autoverified Micro-deposits.
  • Xero partners with UK fintech Curve to automate expense management.
  • Zopa searches for new borrowers through Saffron Building Society loan partnership.
  • Sberbank, Russia’s Largest Bank, Announces Payment Solution.
  • DefenseStorm Renews SOC 2 Compliance.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alums Earn Spots in European Fintech 100

Finovate Alums Earn Spots in European Fintech 100

Powered by collaborative Belgian innovation platform, B-Hive, and Dutch financial consulting firm, Alex van Groningen BV, the European Fintech Awards & Conference recognize fintech innovators working in a variety of areas ranging from the Blockchain/Bitcoin and Financial Inclusion to InsurTech and Payments.

The awards consist of a European Fintech 100 and a Top Three which will be selected from among the top three startups in each of the conference’s nine categories during a pitch contest at the end of September. Here are the Finovate alum finalists who will compete for top honors in their respective categories this fall.

Dorsum (FinovateEurope 2017)

  • Category: Innovative Banking Software
  • Founded in 1996
  • Headquartered in Budapest, Hungary
  • Róbert Kő is CEO and Founder

Meniga (FinovateEurope 2017)

  • Category: PFM / Robo Advisory
  • Founded in 2009
  • Headquartered in London, U.K.
  • Won Finovate Best of Show three times
  • Georg Ludviksson is CEO

Revolut (FinovateEurope 2015)

  • Category: Challenger Banks
  • Founded in 2013
  • Headquartered in London, U.K.
  • Nikolay Storonsky is CEO and founder

TWINO (FinovateEurope 2016)

  • Category: Alternative Finance
  • Founded in 2015
  • Headquartered in Riga, Latvia
  • Jevgenijs Kazanins is CEO

Below are the Finovate alums that have been named to the European Fintech 100.

 

 

 

 

See the full European Fintech 100 list.

Interested in fintech in Europe and the U.K.? Finovate brings its new, expanded format to London in February. With live demos on Days One and Two, and a diverse range of keynotes, panel discussions, and round tables with fintech professionals on Days Three and Four, FinovateEurope 2017 is an event you won’t want to miss. Visit our FinovateEurope page today to learn more and to take advantage of huge early-registration savings.

12 Alums Earn Their Place on Inc. 5000 List

12 Alums Earn Their Place on Inc. 5000 List

Inc. released its lists of the fastest-growing 5,000 private companies in the U.S. and Europe this week. Eight Finovate alums made the U.S. list and four earned spots on the Europe list. To qualify*, companies were required to be privately-owned and independent.

Inc. 5,000 U.S.

Overall in the U.S., financial services companies saw a 151% growth rate, while IT services experienced 112% growth, security 171% growth, and software grew 134%. Out of the 5,000 companies listed in 28 industries, here are the eight Finovate alums that earned their place on the list:

Alkami Technology

  • Rank: 176
  • 2016 revenue: $11.9 million
  • 3-year growth: 24x
  • Founded: 2009
  • Employees: 192
  • Ranked number 11 in top software companies, number 8 in top Dallas companies, and number 13 in top Texas companies.

Alkami debuted under the name iThryv at FinovateSpring 2009 in San Francisco.

nCino

  • Rank: 361
  • 2016 revenue: $26.1 million
  • 3-year growth: 12.2x
  • Founded: 2012
  • Employees: 273
  • Ranked number 24 in top software companies and number 10 in top North Carolina companies.

nCino debuted its bank operating system at FinovateEurope 2017 in London.

Tango Card

  • Rank: 373
  • 2016 revenue: $10.6 million
  • 3-year growth: 11.6x
  • Founded: 2009
  • Employees: 57
  • Ranked number six in top Seattle companies and number six in top Washington companies.

Tango Card debuted its Rewards as a Service API at FinovateFall 2016 in New York.

Kabbage

  • Rank: 449
  • 2016 revenue: $172 million
  • 3-year growth: 9.8x
  • Founded: 2009
  • Employees: 325
  • Ranked number 24 in top financial services companies, number 14 in top Atlanta companies, and number 16 in top Georgia companies.

At FinovateSpring 2015, Kabbage debuted the Kabbage Card. Kathryn Petralia, the company’s President, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, will be featured on our Digital Lending Summit panel on September 13. Register today to save your spot.

Lighter Capital

  • Rank: 634
  • 2016 revenue: $6.4 million
  • 3-year growth: 7.1x
  • Founded: 2010
  • Employees: 36
  • Ranked number 10 in top Seattle companies and number 11 in top Washington companies.

Lighter Capital debuted its Next-Generation Loan Analysis & Monitoring at FinovateFall 2013 in New York.

defi SOLUTIONS

  • Rank: 771
  • 2016 revenue: $11.4 million
  • 3-year growth: 5.9x
  • Founded: 2012
  • Employees: 59

defi SOLUTIONS showcased its loan origination solution at FinovateSpring 2014.

Cardlytics

  • Rank: 1069
  • 2016 revenue: $112.8 million
  • 3-year growth: 4x
  • Founded: 2008
  • Employees: 325

At FinovateFall 2013, Cardlytics showcased its geolocation application.

Payoneer

  • Rank: 1912
  • 2016 revenue: $100 million to $500 million
  • 3-year growth: 2x
  • Founded: 2005
  • Employees: 100 to 249
  • Is a five-time Inc. 5,000 honoree
  • Awarded as a Best Place to Work

Payoneer showcased its Commercial Account at FinovateAsia 2013.

Inc. 5,000 Europe

This is Inc’s third annual ranking of private companies in Europe, based on three-year revenue growth. In its analysis, Inc. ranked Paris, Romania, Sweden, Slovakia, and London as the top five regions with the highest number of fastest growing companies in Europe. Four Finovate alums landed on Inc.’s Europe list this year:

True Potential

  • Rank: 900
  • 2015 revenue: $52.6 million (€44.9 million)
  • 3-year growth: 6.9x
  • Founded 2010
  • Employees: 29

True Potential demonstrated impulseSave at FinovateFall 2014

Zopa

  • Rank: 909
  • 2015 revenue: $32.9 million (€28.1 million)
  • 3-year growth: 6.9x
  • Founded: 2004
  • Employees: 111

Zopa showcased its P2P lending platform at FinovateSpring 2008.

Fidor Bank AG

  • Rank: 4413
  • 2015 revenue: $35.5 million (€30.3 million)
  • 3-year growth: 2x
  • Employees: 148

At FinovateEurope 2011, Fidor Bank demonstrated its Fidor Pay account.

Truphone

  • Rank: 4183
  • 2015 revenue: $42.9 million (€36.6 million)
  • 3-year growth: 2.9x
  • Founded: 2001
  • Employees: 522

Truphone showed off Truphone Mobile Recording at FinovateEurope 2014.


*Other qualifying criteria include

  • Have started earning revenue by March 31st, 2013
  • Had revenue no less than $100,000 in 2013
  • Had revenue no less than $2,000,000 in 2016
  • Revenue in 2016 exceeds revenue in 2013

44 Alums Populate CB Insights’ Fintech 250 List

44 Alums Populate CB Insights’ Fintech 250 List

This week, CB Insights unveiled its Fintech 250 list. The research outfit selected 250 emerging, private companies in 17 sub-sectors of fintech that are changing the face of financial services. The roster includes 44 Finovate and FinDEVr alums that were selected using CB Insights’ data-driven process that analyzes company momentum, market participation, funds raised, and investor quality.

The list is in alphabetical order.

Algomi

AutoGravity

Avalara

Behalf

Betterment

Blend

Chain

Coinbase

Credit Karma

Currencycloud

CurrencyFair

Fenergo

Financeit

Gusto (formerly ZenPayroll)

Juvo

Kabbage

Kensho

Kreditech

Klarna

LendUp

Moneytree

PayNearMe

Payoneer

Personal Capital

Plaid

Quantopian

Quovo

Revolut

Ripple Labs

Roostify

Signifyd

SocietyOne

Socure

Tink

Token

Tradeshift

Transferwise

TrueAccord

Trulioo

VATBox

Wealthfront

Xignite

Zooz

Zopa