Today is the official launch of CircleBack Lending who are looking to compete with Lending Club and Prosper in the p2p lending industry. I first wrote about them back in February as they were putting their platform together.
Borrowers in Georgia and New Mexico can now apply for loans on their platform. However, all the initial loans will be funded internally by CircleBack, they are not open for investors just yet. Having said that, I spoke with Michael Solomon, their CEO and Co-Founder, today and he said they will be open to a small group of accredited investors for beta testing once they get through this initial testing period. Some time in the fall they expect to open their investing platform.
Here is a quote from their press release:
“We are launching at a perfect time,” says CEO and Co-Founder Michael Solomon. “Our market needs a new source of high-quality consumer loans to meet skyrocketing demand from professional investors.”
CircleBack have no plans to file an S-1 registration which means they intend to target only accredited investors. Regardless, with loans disappearing from Lending Club and Prosper in record time another option for any kind of investor is welcome news. It will be interesting to see how this company develops.
Peter Renton is the chairman and co-founder of LendIt Fintech, the world’s first and largest digital media and events company focused on fintech. Peter has been writing about fintech since 2010 and he is the author and creator of the Fintech One-on-One Podcast, the first and longest-running fintech interview series. Peter has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The New York Times, CNBC, CNN, Fortune, NPR, Fox Business News, the Financial Times, and dozens of other publications.