Peer2Peer Finance News January 2023

Full coverage of the event inside!

Industry’s achievements recognised at inaugural Peer2Peer Finance Awards

PEER-TO-PEER lending platforms and their service providers were honoured at a glittering awards ceremony in London’s historic Hurlingham Club last month.

On 6 December 2022, more than 170 of the P2P sector’s biggest players met together for the first time to network, catch up, and raise a toast to P2P.

After a champagne reception in the Palm Court, guests enjoyed a three-course meal before the awards ceremony started, hosted by broadcast journalist Sasha Qadri.

Kuflink was the most prolific winner of the night, netting three awards: Bridging Lender of the Year, Chief Executive of the Year for Narinder Khattoare, and the coveted Investors’ Choice award – the only award of the evening voted for exclusively by Peer2Peer Finance News’ investor readers.

Folk2Folk, Assetz Exchange and Kroll each won two awards.

Kroll was named Business Advisory Firm of the Year and Restructuring Firm of the Year. Meanwhile, Assetz Exchange won the

awards for Ethical Lender of the Year and Buy-toLet Lender of the Year.

Folk2Folk won in the Business Lender of the Year category, and the Cornwall-based lender also walked away with the biggest award of the night – P2P Lending Platform of the Year. Assetz Capital gained a highly commended award for P2P Lending Platform of the Year.

“It was fantastic to see so many people from the industry gather together for our inaugural awards event,” said Suzie Neuwirth, founder and editor-in-chief of

Peer2Peer Finance News

“This is the first time that the P2P sector has had a dedicated awards ceremony and it was about time that its outstanding achievements were recognised. The fact that the industry has continued to grow and thrive is particularly impressive considering the current economic environment.

“The feedback from attendees was fantastic and the P2PFN team is already looking forward to next year’s event. Thank you to everyone who helped make this event possible!”

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EDITORIAL

Suzie Neuwirth Editor-in-Chief suzie@p2pfinancenews.co.uk

Kathryn Gaw Contributing Editor kathryn@p2pfinancenews.co.uk

Marc Shoffman Senior Reporter marc@p2pfinancenews.co.uk

Hannah Gannage-Stewart Reporter

PRODUCTION Tim Parker Art Director

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Peer2Peer Finance News has been prepared solely for informational purposes, and is not a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any peer-to-peer finance product, or any other security, product, service or investment. This publication does not purport to contain all relevant information which you may need to take into account before making a decision on any finance or investment matter. The opinions expressed in this publication do not constitute investment advice and independent advice should be sought where appropriate. Neither the information in this publication, nor any opinion contained in this publication constitutes a solicitation or offer to provide any investment advice or service.

After six months of planning and hard work, the Peer2Peer Finance Awards finally took place last month.

I feel confident in saying that the event was a great success. The venue looked stunning, the food and service was brilliant and the awards ceremony went without a hitch.

But all of those things paled in comparison to the positivity and enthusiasm which the industry brought to the event, creating a fantastic atmosphere and a real sense of significance to the awards.

For those of you who weren’t in attendance, hopefully the photo coverage in this issue of the magazine will give some insight into the energy and dynamism of the night, which made me feel really proud of everything that the industry –and Peer2Peer Finance News – has achieved.

Finally, I’d like to say a huge thank you to all our industry supporters and to the Peer2Peer Finance News team, who collectively made the event into such a success.

Bring on next year!

SUZIE NEUWIRTH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

We hope you’re enjoying the latest edition of Peer2Peer Finance News! We have now moved to a paid-for subscription model. If you would like to continue reading the magazine, please go to www.p2pfinancenews. co.uk/subscribe/ to find out about subscription options.

The full list of winners

Business Advisory Firm of the Year

Winner Kroll Debt Advisory Firm of the Year Winner Evelyn Partners

Restructuring Firm of the Year Winner Kroll Open Banking Provider of the Year Winner ClearScore

Law Firm of the Year Winner RW Blears

Highly Commended Shearman & Sterling

Consumer Lender of the Year Winner Lendwise Business Lender of the Year Winner Folk2Folk

Property Development Lender of the Year Winner CrowdProperty

Rising Star Winner Plend Financial Inclusion Award Winner Lande Finance Highly commended Qardus

Innovative Lender of the Year Winner AxiaFunder Highly commended Shojin

CEO of the Year Winner Narinder Khattoare

P2P Software Provider of the Year Winner White Label Crowdfunding

Highly commended LenderKit

Compliance Consultancy of the Year Winner Adempi

P2P Institutional Partner of the Year Winner Fasanara Capital

Highly commended Relendex Bridging Lender of the Year Winner Kuflink Buy-to-let Lender of the Year Winner Assetz Exchange

Ethical Lender of the Year Winner Assetz Exchange

IFISA Provider of the Year Winner Sourced Capital

P2P Lending Platform of the Year Winner Folk2Folk

Highly commended Assetz Capital

Investor’s Choice Award Winner Kuflink

Narinder Khattoare accepting the CEO of the Year award from host Sasha Qadri

The Kuflink team accepting the Investors' Choice award

AxiaFunder (with chief Cormac Leech, left) won Innovative Lender of the Year

The Sourced Capital team won the IFISA Provider of the Year category

Folk2Folk (with MD Roy Warren, centre) picked up two awards on the night

Shojin chief Jatin Ondhia (left) receiving the Highly Commended award for Innovative Lender of the Year

Hassan Daher (left) of Qardus receiving the Highly Commended award for Financial Inclusion

Kuflink won Bridging Lender of the Year

Fasanara Capital won P2P Institutional Partner of the Year

The Plend team picking up the Rising Star award

Lendwise team with the Consumer Lender of the Year award

Paul Sonabend (centre) and Michael Lynn (right) of Relendex accepted the Highly Commended award for Property Development Lender of the Year

Kroll (with MD Mark Turner, centre) picked up the Business Advisory Firm of the Year award

RW Blears (founder Roger Blears, left) won the Law Firm of the Year award

Konstantin Boyko of LenderKit (left) accepting the Highly Commended trophy for P2P Software Provider of the Year

Shearman & Sterling received the Highly Commended accolade for Law Firm of the Year

ClearScore was awarded Open Banking Provider of the Year

White Label Crowdfunding (MD Dan Rajkumar, left) won the P2P Software Provider of the Year category

P2PFN founder and editor-in-chief Suzie Neuwirth gave the opening speech

What does ECSPR mean for UK P2P platforms?

THE NEWLY-INTRODUCED European Crowdfunding Service Providers

Regulation (ECSPR) presents a new opportunity for UK peer-topeer lending platforms. But it also has the potential to create more competition in the UK market.

As a result, Oliver Gajda, executive director of the European Crowdfunding Network (Eurocrowd) believes that UK P2P platforms should take some time to understand the impact of the new regulations.

“The opportunity should be clear,” he says. “A significant market has just been harmonised under a highly innovative capital market law. It will take some time to fully play out, but you need to understand that it is already happening while you are still considering expanding locally.”

ECSPR allows all EU-based P2P and crowdfunding platforms to operate across the entire trading bloc with ease. This is likely to lead to the rapid expansion of European platforms, some of which have their own lending and borrowing operations in the UK.

Indeed, the first platform to obtain the new European licence was a British firm, Crowdcube. This means that they can now market European investments directly to European citizens. They also can finance European businesses more easily. Their potential market has just multiplied.

“Others are likely to join,” says Gajda. “Seedrs – another UK investment crowdfunding platform – is getting ready to take advantage of the new rules. German lending platform Kapilendo first merged with Invesdor earlier this year in Finland,

and just now with OnePlanetCrowd in the Netherlands. And October, France’s largest business lending platform, acquired its nearest competitor Credit.fr earlier in 2022 in preparation for the new market.”

ECSPR has been created to allow European companies easier access to European investors. But the regulations also affect UK platforms and their future operations. There is already a precedent emerging, Gajda notes. Dutch platform Lendahand was among the very first ECSPR licence holders. While its investors are mostly European, the platform is still able to finance businesses in non-EU countries such as Mexico, Moldova and Kenya. This paves the way for other EU-based platforms to offer loans from countries such as the UK, potentially encroaching on the UK’s competitive business lending and property lending markets.

Under ECSPR, a platform can offer direct investment or loans to businesses, specifically “…the joint provision of reception and transmission of client orders and the placement of transferable securities or admitted instruments for crowdfunding purposes without a firm commitment basis…” as well as “…the facilitation of granting of loans, including services such

as presenting crowdfunding offers to clients and pricing or assessing the credit risk of crowdfunding projects or project owners”.

These definitions state that an ECSPR licence holder can finance any ‘project owner’, which “means any natural or legal person who seeks funding through a crowdfunding platform”.

ECSPR has therefore been designed to open the doors for nonEU based businesses to be ‘project owners’ which can access financing on ECSPR-licensed platforms.

However, Gajda adds that this may not be as easy as it sounds.

“The definitions of transferable securities and loans are obviously linked to European law,” he says. “This will be a legal issue which is going to addressed in the future and potentially in multiple jurisdictions. But with the possibility to acquire illiquid and nontransferable assets via single asset special purpose vehicles – at least for transactions using tradeable securities – suddenly a whole new set of opportunities arise.

“Whether or not this will present a real opportunity for European platforms to enter the UK market, given tax treatment and interpretation of national laws, remains to be seen.”

UK P2P platforms swing into the black

P2P lenders have raised £1.85bn over the last five years, with more firms moving into profit, as Selin Bucak reports…

AS BUSINESSES ACROSS

the UK brace themselves for a deeper recession, peerto-peer lenders seem to be doing well with eight out of the 10 largest companies based on cumulative lending now reporting profits.

Only two continue to be loss-making. The rise of P2P lending has also caught investors’ attention, with alternative lending business raising $4.7bn (£3.8bn) globally across 176 deals in just the second quarter of this year, according to a PitchBook report.

In the UK, over the last five years, P2P lending platforms have raised £1.85bn in capital.

This year, such businesses raised a total of £326m, down from £786m in 2021. However, last year was a record year for many parts of venture capital which some have argued has distorted figures. In 2019, the year before Covid-19, P2P lending platforms raised £150m in the UK.

Here we take a look at where 10 of these businesses stand in terms of profitability and the capital they raised as they prepare to enter a new year filled with significant economic challenges.

Assetz Capital

Founded: 2013

Capital Raised: Nearly £60m

(according to Dealroom)

Cumulative Lending: £1.5bn

Interest paid to investors: Over £100m (gross)

Assetz Capital posted a profit of £2.1m in the year ended 31 March 2021, according to the group’s latest set of accounts published on Companies House. This was up from a loss of £800,000 the previous year. Its results for 2022 have not yet been published.

The platform has raised fresh equity this year to support its growth plans. In August, it raised £296,258 from investors on Seedrs. This followed the firm’s last crowdfunding round, which was matched by the government’s Future Fund, bringing the total to just over £1.5m.

In November, Assetz Capital restricted withdrawals from its access accounts after withdrawals outpaced new investment. In addition, for approximately 12 months, the platform said it will not fund any new loans from access accounts.

In a statement to Peer2Peer Finance News, chief executive Stuart Law said that the firm’s growing network of institutional partners, such as Aros Kapital and Aeon Investments, would play a key role in achieving its second billion of cumulative lending.

Folk2Folk

Founded: 2013

Capital Raised: Nearly £14.5m in credit (according to Dealroom)

Cumulative Lending: £573m Folk2Folk registered a profit of £1.97m over the year ending 31 January 2022, up from £1.11m year-on-year. Over the period it also paid out its first dividend to shareholders.

The group’s managing director, Roy Warren, previously said that it has ambitious growth plans. Last December, the firm secured a £7m funding line from the investment arm of the British Business Bank.

"The addition of British Business Investments as an institutional investor alongside our existing investor base, expands our funding lines and bolsters our position on the financial frontline of support for regional smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” said Warren at the time.

CrowdProperty

Founded: 2014

Capital Raised: £5.2m (according to Dealroom)

Cumulative Lending: £271m In the year to 31 March 2021, CrowdProperty returned a profit

of £635,617. The group pointed out that it has been profitable on a monthly basis since October 2019.

In 2021, the group raised £1.8m in equity capital to support investment into its technology, systems, processes, team and brand. This capital was meant to be deployed through financial year 2021/22, with the team, as a result, expecting to post a loss during this period. The results for the year ending 31 March 2022 have not been published yet.

Over the year, CrowdProperty has been on a hiring spree, adding in several roles including a head of planning and a new lending

director. Meanwhile, the firm has launched a new mezzanine finance product called CP Capital.

Kuflink

Founded: 2016

Capital Raised: N/A

Cumulative Lending: £266.8m

Interest paid to investors: £131m In the year to June 2021, Kuflink reported a pre-tax profit of £462,555, up from a loss of £128,592. Its forecasts, published in its latest set of accounts, show that these profits were set to continue into financial year 2022 and thereafter.

The directors pointed out that after assessing the group’s financial position, Kuflink cut significant costs within the business, which has moved to the group to a self-sustainable model.

Invest & Fund

Founded: 2015

Capital Raised: N/A

Cumulative Lending: £200m+ Interest paid to investors: £120m+ Invest & Fund is still lossmaking but has been able to reduce its post-tax losses significantly from £1.1m in the 12 months to 31 March 2021, to just £295,000 this year. In addition, it posted an increase of more than 300 per cent in revenue to £1.4m. Over the period, the business also recorded its first month of profitability, according to its latest set of results.

These results followed several structural changes in the business, including the recruitment of specialist executives into key roles.

Invest & Fund has received capital from the government’s Future Fund.

Proplend

Founded: 2014

Capital Raised: N/A

Cumulative Lending: £178m Interest paid to investors: £18.9m Proplend’s results for 2021 do not include an income statement, however, chief executive Brian Bartaby told Peer2Peer Finance News the business is profitable. He added that the group remains sustainable as they “run a very tight ship”.

He added: “We have income backed into the current loan book and a loyal supporting of lenders who fund new loans as they come to the platform.”

Proplend depends on continued financing from its shareholders, who, according to its latest set of

Where are P2P platforms located?

Folk2Folk

CrowdProperty

Assetz Capital

results, confirmed that sufficient funds will continue to be made available and agreed that no withdrawal will be taken from the business. It has previously held a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs, raising £637,000.

In 2017, Salamanca Group announced the completion of a series A funding for Proplend. Bartaby said the firm might look to raise additional external capital in 2023.

ArchOver

Founded: 2013

Capital Raised: N/A

Cumulative Lending: £161.6m

In 2021, ArchOver posted a loss of £648,579, which was up from a loss of £534,996 the previous year. A review by Neil Faulkner, head of research at P2P ratings firm 4thWay, suggests that the business is still some years away from becoming profitable. However, Faulkner believes it is nevertheless a sound business.

ArchOver has not raised any external capital, but it is owned by Hampden, a much larger company, which provides specialist insurance. And according to ArchOver’s latest set of results, it received continued financial support from its shareholders to enable it to continue to grow.

HNW Lending

Founded: 2012

Capital Raised: N/A

Cumulative Lending: £115m

This year has been the second highest profit year for HNW Lending, according to its chief executive Ben Shaw, who did not share an exact figure with Peer2Peer Finance News. But according to abridged accounts for the year to 31 March, HNW Lending posted

a profit of £71,122, down from £89,924, the previous year. Shaw said this figure is shown after appropriations have been made, such as dividend payments. In fact, he said, the profit is much higher than what is shown on the accounts.

Relendex

Founded: 2013

Capital Raised: £5.77m (according to PitchBook)

Cumulative Lending: £99.9m

Last year, Relendex reported its second consecutive year of profits, making £322,998, up from a profit of £135,760 the previous year. Although the group’s results for 2022 are not published yet, executive chairman Paul Sonabend said earlier this year that Relendex is well capitalised and growing at a pace that is sustainable.

According to PitchBook data, the last time the company raised capital was in 2018, from angel investors. According to its results published in June, Relendex is actively engaged in raising new equity and other financing to fund its development. During 2021, it issued £500,000 in new equity capital, which it said provides sufficient finance for the company’s requirements for the foreseeable future.

LendingCrowd

Founded: 2014

Capital Raised: £109m (according to PitchBook)

Cumulative Lending: £136m LendingCrowd’s accounts for 2021, published in September 2022, show a pre-tax profit of £29,059.

At the beginning of the year, the platform closed a £100m funding deal with Barclays Bank and a large global investment firm to scale up its lending to SMEs.

Kuflink

ArchOver

LendingCrowd

How Kuflink is pioneering net zero homes

EVERYONE IS TALKING about energy and the cost of heating our homes and businesses. The rising cost of gas, oil and electricity has accelerated the UK’s cost of living crisis, putting more focus on renewable energy, net zero carbon emissions and alternatives to gas, petrol and diesel products.

The government has set a target of reaching net zero by 2050, but many property experts believe that they can and should go further than that.

Kuflink is aiming to reach net zero itself by 2030 and is confident of achieving this once the development of its new corporate offices is complete.

From the very beginning of each new project, Kuflink looks favourably on developments that consider their carbon footprint, this includes the consideration of alternative heat and power sources as well as thermal and sound insulation.

“Passivhaus standards in design are the ultimate design principle that we are now looking for but we recognise we are still early on this journey of compliance,” says Narinder Khattoare, chief executive of Kuflink. “So the new Building Control Approved standards are the minimum that we would accept and would want to see evidenced."

Heat pumps, solar panels and other green energy alternatives have become extremely popular in recent years. As an agile, hands-on lender, Kuflink can work with developers in setting certain standards for the properties it is funding.

“A developer that is demonstrating this level of understanding of its responsibilities in carbon neutrality is dealt with by us as a lender with

greater interest in lending as it demonstrates a strong understanding of a projects’ viability and hence ability to achieve the re-term, or sale that our investors want reassurance can be achieved,” Khattoare adds.

“Higher thermal and integrated ventilation standards in all elements of construction should be built into the initial design from the ground floor upwards, we are looking at the entire building envelope as a single entity now that requires a comprehensive approach to achieve carbon neutrality.”

Kuflink supports its borrowers by embedding certain net zero targets right at the beginning of a new build project. The platform requires evidence of building control approval of scheme design at an early stage of the build, and this helps developers who may be less experienced understand the regulations early so that they can factor this into their costings.

“We cannot take on design responsibility as a lender, but our investors are looking at the quality of the build and its compliance level and this is becoming an important consideration of how we look at a possible loan,” says Khattoare.

For refurbishment projects, the main consideration is the energy

performance certificate (EPC). At the moment, Kuflink expects an EPC of C or above for new or refurbished properties if lettings or sales are planned as the exit strategy. Going forward, Khattoare says he wants to raise the company’s target EPC.

UK Finance recently called for the EPC chart to be updated to better reflect the challenges of updating the energy profile of older properties. Khattoare agrees that the current model should be changed in order to differentiate between new builds and refurbishment projects.

“A blanket range is not reasonable to apply to the refurbishment of old properties against new build when the technology to achieve that higher standard in refurbished or historic buildings are not yet available and planning controls presently in place do not enable this,” he says.

“Although we are noting improvements in the technology, this will enable us to expect these higher standards in all property and this is something we would support.”

Going forward, Khattoare would like to see more investment in new technology designs which can help property developers to meet their net zero targets more efficiently.

“The regulatory framework for new build and some refurbishment works are already there,” he says.

“What is missing is the investment in new technology design and promotion and this could be improved with targeted investment credits against tax liability for both the design of the products and its implementation.”

Until then Kuflink will continue to do its bit to support its borrowers as they work to achieve net zero, sooner rather than later.

Making a difference

Nathan Spiteri, head of growth at Plend, talks to Marc Shoffman about how the consumer lender is solving a problem in the sub-prime credit market

MOST PEER-TO-PEER

lenders are focused on the property and business space but Plend is planning to shake things up when it comes to personal loans.

The open banking-backed consumer lender gained full Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval in May 2022 and already has a waiting list of thousands of borrowers.

In further recognition of the firm's achievements, Plend won the Rising Star award at the Peer2Peer Finance Awards last month.

Its focus on financial inclusion – it was launched after co-founder Rob Pasco moved from New Zealand to the UK and struggled to open a bank account with no credit history – helped the platform to attract £40m of seed funding from investors in November 2022.

Nathan Spiteri (pictured), head of growth at Plend, explains what attracted him to the platform and its plans to develop and provide muchneeded support for borrowers.

Marc Shoffman (MS): How did you become involved in Plend?

Nathan Spiteri (NS): I am from Australia and worked for Commonwealth Bank in various lending roles. I migrated to the UK just before Covid, and met Rob and Jamie at the pitch deck phase.

I was working for Wagestream, another ethical fintech, which is

where I developed the base for financial inclusion. I fell in love with Plend’s mission. I saw the dedication from the founders and the personal reasoning behind launching Plend. It is a personal story and less commercial than other business. I liked the focus on helping people and financial inclusion.

MS: What has been the response since launch?

NS: We launched a beta platform in May this year. We put a very modest budget behind the social media campaign and weren’t expecting to get the response we did. In the month we launched in beta, the waitlist grew to 2,000 people. It means more people are looking for credit, so is a shock rather than purely a positive that we are getting business. It shows there is a problem.

Our financial inclusion report underlined this problem. A lot

of people want affordable credit and the fact we are affordable in the sub-prime market is helping. You can see that from the Trustpilot reviews, as we are saving people hundreds of pounds per month. If you have an attractive proposition then the product is all the marketing you need.

MS: What rates do you offer?

NS: On average our loan rates are 13 or 14 per cent. Interest rates paid by borrowers are capped at 25 per cent but can be as low as four per cent through partners we provide embedded finance through.

We can also slide in at point of sale to help retailers increase their sales, by providing loans to their customers.

Our average loan term is three to four years but we offer loans ranging from one to five years. The average amount borrowed is £8,000. The idea is for it to be a longer-term sustainable loan. Typically 70 per cent of the approved loans are for debt consolidation, as it saves borrowers on annual interest. Second to that is home improvement, helping people enhance their lifestyle.

“ You can have a high income but a low credit score”

MS: Who are your typical borrowers?

NS: When we started out we expected borrowers to be younger people with thin credit files or people who haven’t built up a credit score. However, we have found that our average borrower has an income of £40,000 and is around 37 years old. That just goes to show that you don’t always know what people’s credit scores are and how important affordability is. You can have a high income but a low credit score. We have provided a tailored solution that reflects someone’s current financial situation rather than just their history.

MS: Who are your typical investors?

NS: We have a mix of high-networth individuals and angel investors. We also partnered with Sivo, the US debt fund. Our

strategy is to build on that to find more partners to provide debt with. Technically the model is peer to peer as the funding isn’t coming from the balance sheet but we don’t actually have retail investors. For now, we are focused on where we are but a retail platform is on the horizon.

MS: How will the £40m funding be used?

NS: It is a mixture of debt and equity. There is a portion that will be lent out to customers and then a part for the operational team, as well as for growth and investment on the platform side. We will also be seeking further funding including a series A round.

MS: How big is your loan book?

NS: We have processed more than £35m in loan applications so far. That is not all funded but it shows how busy the market is.

MS: What is your focus for business growth?

NS: We have a big focus on partnerships. There is also the embedded side with retail partners as well as apps and other fintechs who don’t have FCA regulation.

Others are attracted to our model and how we can look at additional data points and provide an attractive solution. We get to speak to a lot of investment platforms – there is a rise in interest for alternative investments. People want to invest in fine wines, whisky and vintage cars. The fact you can invest in a good cause and help people is also an attractive proposition.

Plend factbox

Founders: Robert Pasco and James Pursaill

Launched: Achieved regulatory authorisation in May 2022 before fully launching in July 2022

Type of finance: Open banking-backed personal loans

Fundraising: £700,000 raised in pre-seed round in September 2021, £40m raised from new and existing investors in November 2022

“ We have provided a tailored solution that reflects someone’s current financial situation rather than just their history”

The Plend team at the Peer2Peer Finance Awards on 6 December 2022

Lande reveals expansion plans

LANDE IS EXPANDING.

The agricultural peer-to-peer lending platform already operates in Latvia and Lithuania, with investors based across the European continent. But in the coming months, the platform will add Romania to the list.

After that, Ričards Maļecs, account manager at Lande, has even more markets in his sight.

“We plan to expand into other European countries and we are particularly looking forward to working in Greece, Serbia, Hungary and Bulgaria,” he said.

It is no accident that Lande is eyeing expansion in the most agriculturally productive countries in the European bloc. The platform lends exclusively to farmers, helping them to access financing to grow their businesses or implement newer technologies.

First up is Romania.

“Romania was the obvious choice for us because it is one of the biggest farming markets in the EU with a huge financial gap compared to other countries,” says Malecs. “Farmers in Romania are hungry for funding.”

Romanian farmers are especially interested in financing smart technology projects and investing in precision farming tools which will help them to optimise their processes. This is a trend that Malecs has noticed across Europe.

“In bigger markets, borrowers are seeking more technology,” he says. “They are modernising.”

Lande will be launching in Romania within the first six months of 2023. From that point onwards, Romanian farmers will be able to

apply for funding. But Malecs hopes that the addition of Romanian loans to the platform will also inspire more Romanian investors to join in.

“We are already open to investors from Romania but their presence is not so significant,” he says.

“Most of our investors are based in Germany, France and Spain.

“However, in the past we have noticed that as we list new loans in their local communities, more local investors appear. When we started to lend more actively in Lithuania we noticed that we started to get more Lithuanian investors as well.”

The recent European crowdfunding service providers regulation (ECSPR) has made it easier for platforms like Lande to grow their presence across the continent. Lande has already applied for its ECSPR licence, but in the meantime the platform continues to be regulated by Latvian officials.

Malecs is bullish on the impact of the new regulations, saying that he believes it will “help weed out the bad market players from the good ones, while also providing better products for borrowers.”

At the moment, Lande does not plan to expand its offering outside the EU, but the platform is still extremely ambitious. In the medium term, Lande hopes to launch on the stock market and grow its user base in all countries – including the UK.

“We are open to UK investors,” says Malecs. “All investors can back European farmers with a minimum investment of just €50 (£43), and they can access our secondary market with a minimum investment of €2.

“All our projects are backed by collateral, and we target returns of up to 13 per cent, which beats the current rate of inflation in both the UK and the EU.”

INVESTMENT PLATFORMS

Assetz Exchange is a property investment platform delivering long term stable income for investors, primarily through the purchase and leasing of housing for social good. Regulated by the FCA, it provides the opportunity for investors to create a diversified property portfolio and alternative funding options for the housing sector. www.assetzexchange.co.uk

T: 03330 119830

E: info@assetzexchange.co.uk

Folk2Folk is a profitable UK lending and investment platform. More than half a billion pounds has been invested via the platform with no investor losses to date. Loans are a maximum of five years, secured against land/property at a maximum 60 per cent LTV, with a fixed rate of typically 6.5 per cent, per annum. www.folk2folk.com

T: 01566 773296

E: enquiries@folk2folk.com

Invest & Fund is an established alternative finance platform that has deployed over £190m on clients' behalf and has repaid over £115m to lenders with zero per cent bad debts written off. Lenders can achieve a diversified, asset-backed portfolio with gross yields averaging from 6.75 per cent per annum with an option to lend through an ISA or a SIPP for tax-free returns. www.investandfund.com

T: 01424 717564

E: lending@investandfund.com

JustUs is an innovative peer-to-peer lender that provides a range of consumer and property-backed loans. It has lent out more than £20m and paid more than £1.4m in interest to lenders to date. Investors can enjoy returns of up to 10.69 per cent, with all products eligible to be held in an Innovative Finance ISA for tax-free earnings. www.justus.co

T: 01625 750034

E: support@justus.co

Kuflink is an award-winning lender and online investment platform. With over £220m invested through the platform, investors can customise their own portfolio investing in specific loans or in a pool of loans diversified across a number of opportunities. Earn up to 7.44 per cent (compounded) per annum, with an IFISA available.

www.kuflink.com

T: 01474 33 44 88

E: hello@kuflink.com

LANDE is a crowdfunding platform that gives investors access to secured agricultural loans. It has created a unique scoring model, accessible infrastructure, and a variety of products so that farmers are able to access financing quickly and easily. With LANDE and its investors as partners, farmers can become more independent and sustainable, while improving their yield, efficiency and profitability. Projects offer interest rates of up to 13 per cent per annum.

https://lande.finance

T: +371 20381802

E: info@lande.finance

Lendwise is the UK’s only peer-to-peer lender that is dedicated to impact investing in education finance. Investors finance education for borrowers at universities and business schools across the UK and globally. Investors define their own risk appetite and use Lendwise’s AutoLend feature to diversify their strategy across a pool of loans, which can be invested in an IFISA wrapper earning average returns of up to nine per cent per annum. www.lendwise.com T: 0203 890 7270 E: lenders@lendwise.com

SERVICE PROVIDERS AND INDUSTRY ORGANISATIONS

The European Crowdfunding Network (EuroCrowd) is an independent, professional business network promoting adequate transparency, regulation and governance in digital finance while offering a combined voice in policy discussion and public opinion building. It executes initiatives aimed at innovating, representing, promoting and protecting the European crowdfunding industry. www.eurocrowd.org E: info@eurocrowd.org

Q2 creates simple, smart, end-to-end lending experiences that make you an indispensable partner on your customers' financial journeys. Its modular platform gives you the ability to manage lending simply throughout the entire loan lifecycle, from application, onboarding, servicing to collections. The result is a better experience for both borrowers and lenders. https://eu.q2.com T: 020 3823 2300 E: info@Q2.com

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