A new peer-to-peer lender in the SME market says it now has over 80 broker partners referring to the platform since its launch four months ago.
ThinCats Australia, launched last December as a challenger to the major banks in the SME lending market, says it has now signed up more than 80 finance brokers and 150 lenders to its platform. It has also just completed its first three loans.
The P2P lender has delivered its first loans at interest rates ranging from 11.5% to 14% to a diverse SME base, including a stone importer for the building industry, a commercial solar energy systems supplier and an industrial and commercial auctioneer.
The ThinCats platform is a joint venture with ThinCats UK, which has completed more than $190 million worth of secured business loans over the last four years and is one of the two leading peer-to-peer business lenders in the UK.
CEO of ThinCats Australia, Sunil Aranha says the P2P lender has a strong pipeline now in place for 2015.
“We are delighted with the response from lenders, borrowers and brokers to our unique platform, targeting specifically the millions of small to medium businesses whose financial needs are often ignored by the big lenders.
“We have already found a good niche with the SMEs, which borrow about $73 billion a year to finance their operations, and expect to build our portfolio of loans quickly as sophisticated and wholesale investors discover the potency of our platform. We are also generating a lot of interest from finance brokers, who we will be rewarded as they bring loans to the platform.”
According to Aranha, the global market for P2P lending is currently worth over $6 billion and doubling in value every year, as the concept gains broader understanding and acceptance.
