Crowdfunding platform Funding Circle marginally reduced its losses for the year to the end of December 2016, with revenue up 59 per cent.
The company reported a loss of £35.7m for the period in question, compared with £36.9m for the same period in 2015.
The company said 10,000 businesses sourced capital from the company in 2016, with 15,000 investors joining the platform.
In the results statement the company said it was particularly pleased to have been cashflow positive in 2016, and said this has continued into 2017. The company said the marginal drop in losses despite the hefty rise in revenues is a consequence of “investment in marketing, technology and staffing”.
Some of this investment has focused on growing the business in Germany, the Netherlands and the US, where the company said the growth opportunity is “seven times” that of the UK.”
The company said it expects to expand into other markets in due course.
In the first half of 2017 revenue has doubled and is approximately twice the level it was in the first half of 2016, according to the company.
Some of this growth is accounted for by the launch in April of the Funding Circle SME Income Fund, which raised £140m of assets.
Samir Desai, chief executive of Funding Circle said: “We were pleased to achieve our objectives of generating positive cashflow for the UK business whilst continuing to deliver significant topline growth. These results, coupled with accelerated growth during the first half of 2017, reinforces our position as the leading lending platform for small businesses globally.”
David.Thorpe@ft.com
