Arrowgrass Capital Partners has led a funding round for London-based Zopa, and now joins Augmentum Capital, Wellington Partners and Balderton Capital as backers.
Zopa, set up in 2005, facilitates peer-to-peer loans for the retail and business community. Customers have lent some £455 million through the platform, with £180 million dealt in 2013.
The new funding amount comes on the back of an undisclosed funding injection involving Augmentum Capital in December 2012. Following a Series A round worth £1 million in January 2005, it then went on to raise two Series B closes of $15 million and $5 million in March and July of 2006 and a $12.9 million Series C in March 2007.
New backer Arrowgrass Capital Partners claims to be a European-focused alternative asset manager and has funds under management of $4.6 billion.
Giles Andrews, CEO and co-founder of Zopa, comments, ‘As Zopa enables borrowers to dramatically cut their borrowing rates, and savers to see their money grow at market-leading rates and with the security they deserve, it’s win-win.
‘This investment offers the opportunity to spread the benefits of Zopa further and faster.’
More on P2P in the UK:
- Government regulation to be brought in for P2P lending
- Alternative lending market forecast to hit £1.6 billion by 2014
The new capital raised will be used to support the company’s growth and ‘increase awareness’ of its lending mechanism.
Zopa was the recipient of £10 million worth of government capital in late 2012, alongside Funding Circle who netted £20 million, as part of the coalition’s desire to increase lending to small businesses in the UK. The money, which was not an investment – rather a commitment to lend that amount through the platform, was to be matched by private lenders.
As part of the new investment for Zopa, Arrowgrass CEO Henry Kenner has joined the board and will serve as a non-executive director.
