Founders cash in £200m on lender’s float

THE founders of Funding Circle are sitting on a £200m fortune after the company listed on the stock market yesterday.

Samir Desai, James Meekings and Andrew Mullinger, all 35, created the online lender in 2010 to let people lend their cash directly to businesses and keep the interest.

Their shares were valued at £203m as the firm made its debut on the London Stock Exchange at 440p per share.

Desai, chief executive, immediately cashed in £21m, selling 4.8m shares, while Meekings and Mullinger made £16.2m and £13.6m. Between them they still hold shares worth about £153m.

Funding Circle had originally expected to sell its shares for as much as 530p each but was forced to row back on that earlier this week, giving it a value of £1.5bn when it listed.