MarketInvoice, a P2P platform for small business lending, has raised £6 million in its first round of financing as part of an effort to attract retail investors.
Launched in 2011 and based in London, MarketInvoice has traded £475 million across the platform - which provides invoice-backed working capital to businesses - with £30m per month currently being raised.
The £6 million investment in the firm comes from existing shareholders Northzone and the family office of Paul Forster, the co-founder of online jobs site Indeed.com.
The company says it will use the funds to broaden its product set including allowing businesses to access funds against licences, contracts, and subscriptions, as well as supplier finance where businesses can get finance to pay suppliers to complete large projects.
Following the Chancellor’s confirmation of an ‘Innovative Finance ISA’ which will allow tax free investing in peer-to-peer finance from April 2016, MarketInvoice also plans to use the new funds to enable retail investors to participate in the market.
Jeppe Zink, General Partner at Northzone, says: "This is a classic example of a tech business disrupting an age-old industry and having a fantastic real world impact on its users based on a fundamentally better service. The opportunity for growth is massive.”