UK peer-to-peer lender, Zopa, announced Monday that it landed a “multi-million pound” funding-round. Exact terms remain undisclosed. Augmentum Capital, a venture capital fund under RIT Capital, led the round.
Zopa’s news arrives as the United Kingdom takes a closer look at the growing business of peer-to-peer lending, and is considering additional regulations on the industry. Founded in 2005, Zopa was the first “peer-to-peer” lending marketplace. It now has about 500,000 members who have lent more than £250 million among themselves.
Investors in the company have included Balderton Capital, Forward Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Wellington Partners, as well as Augmentum Capital.
Additionally, the British government has announced that Zopa will be one of the peer-to-peer lenders it will use as part of £110 million in lending to small-and-medium-sized enterprises. Zopa’s share of the initiative is £10 million.
Zopa’s now-defunct USA affiliate presented at the first Finovate in San Francisco here.
Metaforic