P2P platform Linked Finance offers 5-year SME loan for capital projects
IRISH peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform Linked Finance has launched a five-year unsecured business loan for SMEs here.
The new loan of up to €300,000 aims to provide an alternative to asset financing when companies want to invest in machinery, equipment, vehicles and other capital projects.
According to Linked Finance, loans are available in under 24 hours, “without onerous requirements to provide collateral or pay legal fees arranging security that are the norm for loans of similar length from other providers”. Rates for the new five-year loan start at 7.95pc.
It also means lenders on the platform will have a larger volume of companies to give money to. Linked Finance applies a “rigorous credit checking process” to vet loan applications, which allows lenders with a well-diversified loan portfolio to earn net returns of 7-8pc. This is of appeal in the current low-interest-rate environment.
The platform has provided loans totalling over €125m for more than 2,400 businesses across the country. Niall Dorrian, chief executive of Linked Finance, said: “This new loan facility is unique in the Irish market, as the only unsecured lending to companies over a five-year term for amounts of up to €300,000.
“We believe that there is significant demand for longer-term borrowing opportunities, and by attracting more companies to our platform in 2020, we will offer our lenders a wider range of options to deploy money at attractive interest rates.”
Last year, Linked Finance announced plans to double the headcount at its Dublin headquarters in 2020, while it has hired 11 new employees to date.
There are further plans to expand throughout the year as the company builds its sales team.
Linked Finance is Ireland’s largest P2P lending platform.
Irish companies that have raised funding with Linked Finance in the past include Viking Splash Tours, The Rolling Donut, Lolly & Cooks, Murphys Ice Cream, Iconic Offices and the Irish Fairy Door Company.