LendingCrowd in ISA first after record 2016

• ISA launch in Q1 of 2017 will be one of the first in UK
  Alternative Finance sector
• P2P platform’s FCA authorisation, tech expertise are industry
  differentiators
• Record 2016 highlights include SIB partnership, market-leading
  investor deal, strengthening of senior management team and 8% rate of
  return

EDINBURGH, Scotland–(BUSINESS WIRE)–LendingCrowd,
one of the UK’s fastest-growing alternative finance lenders to the SME
market, is preparing to launch an ISA during Q1 of 2017, one of the
first to be launched in the UK Alternative Finance sector. It follows a
record year for LendingCrowd in which it became the UK’s second P2P
platform and the first P2P lender to SMEs to move from interim to full
authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Since launching in 2014, LendingCrowd, Scotland’s only headquartered P2P
lender, has facilitated loans totalling over £9m and has over 2000
investors signed up to its platform. Deals range in size from £20,000 to
over £1m and in 2015 LendingCrowd helped Diet Chef complete one of the
largest ever P2P deals seen in the UK in a £1.5m debt finance
transaction.

2016 highlights:

• Effective on 1st November 2016, the FCA authorisation translates to
  LendingCrowd meeting the stipulated “rigorous statutory standards” and
  paved the way for the launch of an ISA product.
• In October, LendingCrowd partnered with the Scottish
  Investment Bank (SIB), the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise,
  in an initiative that will see £2.75 million invested in Scottish SMEs
  across the LendingCrowd platform. It is expected that the move will
  stimulate loans of up to £35 million for SMEs while leveraging
  significant private sector investment.
• Also in October, LendingCrowd announced a market-leading offer to
  investors in relation to adding P2P to their investment strategy. By
  investing £5000, investors received a 2.5% joining bonus allocated to
  their accounts and access to a lending platform that achieved an 8.1%
  rate of return over the last twelve months.
• During the year, the credit assessment team led by Ian Cunningham, a
  former Head of Corporate and Commercial Risk at RBS, was strengthened.
• In August, Michael Allan joined LendingCrowd as Director of
  Operations, joining from IT analytics specialist Sumerian.

Stuart Lunn, CEO and co-founder of LendingCrowd, said: “While we are not
the biggest P2P platform in the UK, the investment made in our people
and technology combined with the FCA approval has positioned
LendingCrowd right at the front of the market when it comes to
alternative financing of UK SMEs. We intend to build on this position of
strength in 2017, continue to innovate for the benefit of our clients
and will be updating the market on plans to launch our ISA during Q1.”

Notes

1. Alternative and innovative new sources of funding have emerged over
recent years in response to changing market dynamics. The UK Alternative
Finance sector provided £3.2 billion worth of loans, investments and
donations in 2015, up 84% compared to 2014.

2. Past returns are not indications of future performance. Returns from
LendingCrowd investments are not guaranteed and investments are not
covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. As with all
investments, capital is at risk.

Contacts

For LendingCrowd
Nick Freer
+44 (0) 7841571871
nick@freerconsultancy.com