Funding Circle, the world's leading marketplace for small business loans, has bolstered its global risk and analytics team today and announced record growth in both the UK and US.
Former Head of Risk Analytics at Barclays Group, Jerome Le Luel will join the company as Global Chief Risk Officer. Manpreet Dhot, previously Chief Credit Officer at American Express within the Latin American market, has also recently joined as Chief Risk Officer in the USA.
Today's appointments follows a record Q2 for Funding Circle globally with approximately $235 million (~£150 million) lent to businesses. The US market saw particularly strong growth with more than 250% increase on lending year-on-year. Globally the company has now facilitated more than $1.2 billion in loans since 2010 and is on track to lend more than $1 billion in 2015.
Funding Circle CEO and co-founder Samir Desai said: "Financial services is undergoing the largest revolution anyone has ever seen. Marketplaces like Funding Circle are at the forefront of this revolution and we're investing heavily in scaling the team to address the unprecedented demand we're seeing in the market. Jerome and Manpreet are strong leaders with proven track records in building best-in-class risk management systems that enable rapid and resilient business growth, and we are thrilled to welcome them to the team."
Le Luel has more than two decades of risk and analytics experience having also served as CRO for Barclaycard globally managing their £40 billion lending portfolio across the US, Europe and Africa. Previously he was responsible for all marketing and analytics at Capital One in the UK.
"Funding Circle is disrupting the traditional banking sector and changing the way small businesses access finance," said Le Luel. "Having seen first-hand the challenges facing small businesses, I'm excited to join an innovative company like Funding Circle to help continue to grow its world-class risk and analytics infrastructure and support businesses access to the financing they need."
Dhot, who will be based out of the company's San Francisco office, has more than 15 years' experience in commercial and consumer credit risk management across domestic and international markets, having also run analytics at American Express for the US small business portfolio.
"Infusing technology with industry leading risk management, Funding Circle has created a truly transparent marketplace that provides businesses access to affordable and appropriate credit products and investors the ability to build a diversified portfolio," said Dhot. "This is a winning combination, and I'm excited to join a company focused on serving the small businesses many banks have left behind."
The appointments follow Funding Circle's recent $150 million funding round and other recent senior appointments, including David Yu, former CEO of Betfair, as Global Head of Product, and Chitra Nayak, former COO (Platform) of Salesforce in April, as US COO.
By bringing together industry leading risk management and cutting edge technology, Funding Circle's transparent marketplace platform enables small businesses to access affordable growth capital from a range of investors in days compared to months with a bank.