Lendio delivers almost $10bn in PPP loans
US peer-to-peer lending platform Lendio has surpassed 213,000 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan approvals worth $9.8bn (£7.1bn).
The programme reopened in January with new rules to improve access to relief funding for minority-owned businesses and very small businesses.
Since then Lendio has helped over 60,000 of small businesses in US access more than $1.8bn in relief funding, with thousands of applications still being processed daily.
The platform increased the distribution of loans to smaller, women-owned and minority-owned businesses. The average loan size on the Lendio platform so far in this round is $34,000, while the national average for the program is just over $50,000.
91 per cent of Lendio’s loans through the programme, which closes for applications on 31 May, have gone to businesses with 10 or fewer employees and 75 per cent of funded loans are for amounts lower than $25,000, with an average loan size of $34,000 for all borrowers.
Women made up 37 per cent of first-draw borrowers and 25 per cent of second-draw borrowers and black business owners received 24 per cent of first draw loans and four per cent of second draw loans.
This indicates that women and black business owners were less likely to receive first draw PPP loans in earlier rounds of the programme.
Read more: Funding Circle to offer first and second draw PPP loans
Read more: Funding Circle US leaves Marketplace Lending Association
“Lendio’s mission has always been to ‘fuel the American dream’ for small business owners,” said Brock Blake, co-founder and chief executive of Lendio.
“In such a turbulent time for businesses across the country, Lendio has pivoted to saving the American dream. It’s been an honor to be able to support so many of the nation’s most important businesses, and we’re not done yet.
“We are committed to continuing to do everything in our power to provide support in the form of relief funds and other types of capital to help businesses recover and grow.”
In March, Funding Circle US, which was accredited for the PPP scheme in April last year, said it would continue to offer the scheme after the US Senate voted to extend it for two months until the end of May.