P2P pioneer Zopa has raised £32 million in funding to help support the build-out of the company’s technology infrastructure and product range in preparation for the submission of its bank licence application later this year.
The investments were led by India's Wadhawan Global Capital Pvt Ltd, and Northzone, a European venture capital fund specialising in fast growth technology companies, and early backer of companies such as Spotify and iZettle.
Last November, Zopa announced plans to launch a next generation bank offering FSCS-protected deposit accounts for savers, a range of peer-to-peer investment products for investors, and personal loans, car finance, and credit cards for people looking to borrow.
Jaidev Janardana, Zopa CEO, says: "This investment gives us additional resources to continue our growth, support the launch of our next generation bank, and bring our award-winning products to even more people in the UK."
The funding follows a breakout year for Zopa, which has facilitated over £800m in personal loans to UK consumers in the past 12 months and in January became the first European peer-to-peer lender to make £2bn worth of loans.
Jeppe Zink, Partner at Northzone says: “We believe Zopa is a blueprint of what the modern, technology-first bank will, and should look like, based on transparency and customer service. Zopa is already a trailblazer in the market, and is in a strong position to build on this, with the launch of their new products.”