October secures funding to expand European P2P products
European peer-to-peer business lender October has secured €258m (£235m) of funding from institutional investors to help support firms hit by the pandemic.
The Paris-based lender, which operates in France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany, said the funding will help expand its product range.
It has secured €20m of funding that will go towards its classic loan products alongside retail investors and has also created a loan for the tourism industry in France using €38m from six major insurance companies and state-backed bank the Caisse des Dépôts.
These deferred repayment loans are part of a French government programme to support the reopening of the hotel and catering industry and tourism companies.
Read more: Increasing number of Brits backing European P2P loans
Read more: EstateGuru secures institutional credit line for Baltic loans
October is also accredited to provide state guaranteed loans under Italy’s emergency coronavirus lending scheme and will deploy €200m from a consortium led by Italian banking group by Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo.
“These investors were all attracted by October’s technology, which allows them to deploy large amounts of money efficiently, while respecting standardised processes, following precise and tailor-made risk policies and relying on five years of accumulated data for more reliable decisions”, Olivier Goy, founder and chief executive of October, said.
Read more: Continental Europe making better use of fintechs in government loan schemes