Plend raises 700000 in equity funding round ahead of P2P launch – P2P Finance News

Plend has raised 700,000 in a pre-seed equity funding round ahead of its planned launch into the peer-to-peer lending sector later this year.

The P2P consumer lending platform said the funding came from venture capital firms including Tomahawk VC Ascension and Haatch, alongside NBS Ventures, which is a part of Nationwide Building Societys Incubator.

Plend will specialise in personal unsecured credit using open banking data to predict the affordability of a potential borrower over the lifetime of the loan.

The platform said it will assess creditworthiness in a fairer way, to tackle the problem that 13 million people in the UK are held back by a lack of affordable credit.

Read more: Plend co-founder changes job title ahead of four new hires

Were on a mission to personalise credit scoring and create a fairer way to assess creditworthiness, said Robert Pasco (pictured right), co-founder and chief executive of Plend.

By making smarter lending decisions based on a persons actual behaviour and current financial position, we will be giving financial independence to millions of people currently excluded from life-changing loans.

Im one of the 13 million and I have a deeply personal experience with the blunt instrument that is our current outdated and odious credit scoring system. This investment is a big step towards creating a world where everyone is treated fairly and can access affordable finance.

Read more: Plend mulls IFISA and SIPP ahead of July launch

Financial wellbeing is crucial to living a happy and healthy life, said James Pursaill (pictured left), co-founder and chief technology officer at Plend.

Whether youre young or retired, returning expat or immigrant, unbanked or just trying to make ends meet, were determined to better understand your financial situation and offer a more affordable loan so you can get on and do more with your life.

Were also excited to be building a community of retail investors who want their money to have an impact and make a real difference to peoples lives.

In June, it emerged that Crowdcubes co-founder and chief marketing officer Luke Lang was joining Plend and last month the platform revealed that it is making four appointments from September onwards for data science, marketing and compliance roles.

Inan exclusive interview withPeer2Peer Finance Newsin May, Pasco and Pursaill highlighted the social and ethical ambitions of the business.

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Plend raises 700000 in equity funding round ahead of P2P launch - P2P Finance News