ALTERNATIVE lending for small firms that use the web to match borrowers and lenders received a £110 million boost from the Government and private sector yesterday.
Business Secretary Vince Cable pledged £55m to small business finance through peer-to-peer lenders, splitting the cash between providers Funding Circle, Zopa, Boost and Credit Asset Management.
Match-funding from the private sector is expected to lever in a minimum of £55m, making at least £110m available to lend to small firms through the web-based lenders.
Mr Cable said: “These new forms of finance are still small in scale today but they should, over time, bring additional choice and greater competition.”
Funding Circle will receive £20m, Zopa £10m, Boost £20m to set up a fund that will make loans between £1m and £8m, and Credit Asset Management will receive £5m.
The funding comes from the Business Finance Partnership fund.
