LendInvest gears up for IPO with £30m fundraising

Online property investment platform LendInvest has completed a pre-IPO funding round of $39.5m (£30.2m). Atomico have increased their investment in LendInvest in the debt and equity fundraising, along with new investors including GP Bullhound and Tiger Management. Earlier this month, LendInvest secured £150m of initial funding from Asian investment bank Nomura and alternative investment manager Magnetar. This followed a funding round of $22m in March 2016, which enabled the business to accelerate its investment in technology and enter the buy-to-let market. LendInvest has now raised more than £1bn through its fundraising efforts. Christian Faes, co-founder and chief executive of Lendinvest, said: “Having recorded a fourth consecutive annual profit, raising capital wasn’t a necessity for LendInvest but by beefing up our balance sheet and bringing on some very experienced additional investors, we are well placed to capitalise on opportunities in the future. “Using technology, LendInvest is building a new kind of financial services business, and an extremely scalable platform, which is changing the way mortgages are funded and work in the UK.”