Through this exchange businesses access lower costs of financing than they would get at a bank and the public are able to become lenders and in doing so make a return on their capital.

Samir Desai, James Meekings and Andrew Mullinger, friends from University of Oxford, first discussed the idea of a peer-to-peer lending marketplace in a public house in 2008.

[9][10] It was in this context that the peer-to-peer lending industry grew rapidly in Britain by providing a needed alternative source of capital.

[11][12] With the $37 million round recent capital raising in October 2013 Funding Circle merged with San Francisco-based Endurance Lending Network to gain access to the US market.

[9] In September 2018, global asset management firm Alcentra agreed to purchase up to $1 billion worth of business loans from the Funding Circle US platform, on behalf of its clients.

[15] Danish billionaire and owner of Bestseller, Anders Povlsen anchored the float by agreeing to purchase a minimum of 10% of the shares.

[22] In September 2019 the Press Association noted that lenders face a near 100-day wait to sell off unwanted loans and get their money back, compared with just eight days in January 2019, reflecting a lack of liquidity in the product.

[27][28] Funding Circle is an online marketplace that enables investors to offer money direct to small companies.