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P2P lender MarketInvoice attracts European backers in eight-figure fundraise

FinTech firm MarketInvoice have announced a new £7.2m fundraise that has drawn investment from a major European private equity group.

Investment in the London-based P2P lender, which is one of Europe’s biggest, was led by MCI.TechVentures Fund which is part of the Polish MCI Capital and have also invested in the likes of Azimo and Gett.

Current investor Northzone also increased their investment in the Shoreditch firm, who have now facilitated over £850m-worth of business funding on their P2P platform and are now angling for even greater expansion across Europe.

With this new funding, MarketInvoice are looking to capitalise on the growing demand for P2P lending, particularly as the sector is becoming more of a mainstream proposition for businesses in light of the FCA’s P2P legislation.

As well as moving their 100-strong team to new offices in Shoreditch, the FinTech business also has plans to broaden its range of products to appeal to as wide a range of business as possible, including startups and mid-size corporates.

Following the new investment, Anil Stocker, Co-founder and CEO of MarketInvoice said: “We’re pleased to bring on a new European investor in MCI Capital to further fuel our growth, demonstrating there is still real appetite for investment in UK fintech.

“MCI have a proven track record as growth backers of some of Europe’s most exciting tech companies, so we’re delighted to be working together.”

Following on from the seven-figure investment in rival lender Lending Works this month, today’s investment also marks the first major multi-million funding in a P2P lender since the Brexit vote, made all the more telling that it has come from a European investor.

However, MarketInvoice joins the growing ranks of businesses and FinTech firms who have spotted opportunity in all the uncertainty.

As banks become racked by economic instability alternative lenders have an opportunity to come to the fore or, as Anil puts it, P2P lenders can step in if banks are ‘moving slowly’.

On this subject, Sylwester Janik, Senior Partner at MCI Capital said: “Following the result of the UK referendum, many might perceive investing in fintech as a risk. With MarketInvoice, it’s actually the opposite.

“We see an economic slowdown and a distracted banking sector as a potential opportunity to fuel growth of the platform. Through its prudent risk management, we believe MarketInvoice is well prepared to deal with changing market sentiment in the future.”

MarketInvoice have also announced two new senior hires with Lisa Gervis joining as Chief Marketing Officer, and Rupert Thorp who has previously worked at Experian and Sky IQ joining as Director of Sales.