Irish peer-to-peer finance platform Flender has raised €10m of a targeted €50m debt financing round it first announced back in April.

The €10m is available to SME businesses borrowing on the P2P finance platform from this month, facilitating access to larger sums.

Flender was founded in 2015 by Kris Koik, Ollie Cavanagh and Jeremy Davies, and has a presence in the UK and Ireland. The platform was officially launched here in 2017.

Flender’s P2P niche is that it formalises the existing lending market between family and friends. Using Flender, businesses can raise finance through their existing customer base and family/friend networks.

Coffee chains, butchers, health food stores and accountancy firms are among the Irish businesses who have so far reached out to their customers and contacts, asking for anything from €20,000 to €100,000 in crowd-funding finance through Flender.

In Association with

The new €10m investment comes from professional investors including Eiffel Investment Group, a Paris-based asset manager.

Kris Koik, Flender’s CEO, said that as a result of the fresh funds, the maximum loan amount on the Flender platform will be raised from €100,000 to €200,000.

“One in seven applicants generally get approved and, to date, Flender has helped smaller Irish companies raise more than €2.5m,” he added.

“Loans are provided to established businesses for expansion and general working capital, with most applicants stating that their banks are unwilling to support them, even though they represent proven viable businesses.”

The average interest rate returned to lenders since Flender launched is just over 10%, Koik said. He added that there are nearly 4,000 active lenders using the platform.

Among Flender’s backers are Ding’s Mark Roden and rugby player Jamie Heaslip, the latter recently having been announced as a Flender brand ambassador.

Photo: Flender founders Oli Cavanagh (left) and Kristjan Koik (right), with Gearoid Collins, Regus Ireland (Pic: Robbie Reynolds)