Estonian P2P firm seeks €1.3m from seed funding round
Estonian peer-to-peer lending platform Income is looking to raise €1.3m (£1.1m) from a seed funding round and has confirmed Singapore’s Tolaram Fintech as a lead investor.
Income said it will use the proceeds of the fundraise to make key hires, continue product development of its retail investor marketplace and further develop its institutional investor onboarding capabilities.
The platform was founded in 2020 and had previously raised €1m from angel investors in a pre-seed round to launch the business and develop its product.
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Individuals and institutions have collectively invested more than €2m in unsecured consumer and business loans on the platform, which are sourced by third-party loan originators.
“Investing in loans as an asset class is growing at a record pace globally, and we see increased demand from both retail and institutional investors,” said Income’s chief executive Kimmo Rytkönen.
“At the same time, there is almost an unlimited need for liquidity among fintech lenders, especially in emerging markets, enabling access to credit where it was previously missing.
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“We are well positioned to benefit from these trends, and we see marketplace data transparency and the innovative use of technology to be the future of marketplace investing.
“Our goal is to become one of the largest and best recognized marketplaces for investing in loans globally. We are very pleased to welcome Tolaram Fintech, with their extensive experience in emerging markets and fintech, as the lead investor in our seed round.”
Tolaram Fintech is part of Tolaram, a Singapore-based enterprise with investments in consumer products, fintech, and infrastructure that generates over $1.2bn (£862m) in annual revenues.
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to invest in the growth of Income, as we believe that it has a unique business model that is centred around investor protection,” said Navin Nahata, managing director, fintech and infrastructure at Tolaram.
“Furthermore, Income’s innovative offering is closely aligned with our own fintech ambitions to enable access to credit in emerging markets, and we look forward to cultivating a strong partnership in this respect.”
Earlier this year, Rytkönen told Peer2Peer Finance News that the platform was considering a UK expansion.