Loans from Linked Finance to Irish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have passed the €50m mark.
The milestone coincides with the peer-to-peer lending platform celebrating five years in business.
Launched by Peter O’Mahony in 2013, with the aim of using technology to connect SMEs looking for finance with lenders keen to back Irish businesses while earning attractive returns, the platform has now provided more than 1,400 loans to businesses across the country and in every sector of the economy.
The platform’s popularity has quickly risen since its foundation, and last year it provided more than €24m in loans, almost 30 times its first year’s performance.
“When I started the platform back in 2013, I wanted to make it easier for hard-working Irish business owners to access the funds needed to grow and drive the economy forward,” said Mr O’Mahony.
“Five years later, it’s brilliant to see the long list of great local businesses who have benefited.”
The site has also proved to be popular with lenders, with the Linked Finance lending community now more than 18,000 strong.
According to the company, users range from ordinary individuals, looking to support businesses belonging to friends and families, up to large international investment groups.
Anyone can lend on the platform and users have complete control over which businesses they support.
Since its foundation, the speed of receiving credit decisions has also improved, and in the first quarter of this year the average loan request was funded in less than 24 hours.
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