UK-based, Abound, a personal lending platform secured over £500M

Abound, x Fintern a personal lending platform based in London that makes accurate and affordable loans using AI and Open Banking has acquired over £500 million in debt and equity funding, bringing the total investment to £570 million.

Funding Details:

Customers of Waterfall Asset Management, a worldwide alternative investment manager, and American bank Citi provided the debt financing. K3 Ventures, GSR Ventures, and Hambro Perks, all headquartered in Singapore, were among the equity side investors.

The additional funding will be used to increase both the company’s headcount and the number of customers.

The UK company will also invest the money in expanding its business-to-business deal, making its technology available to other banks and lenders.

According to Abound, it will have $1 billion on its financial sheet by 2025.

Abound:

Abound is a financial service that uses open banking and artificial intelligence to offer borrowers loans that are more affordable than those offered by conventional lenders. It was founded in 2020 by Michelle He and Gerald Chappell.

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The business currently provides loans with a 24.8% APR, repayable over five years for amounts between $1,000 and £10,000. The Financial Conduct Authority has granted Abound authorization and oversight.

Abound has currently serviced over 150,000 customers and has seen monthly growth of 30%.

Thoughts:

Abound’s CEO and co-founder, Gerald Chappell, said: “Our approach to lending continues to be unique in the finance industry, and this latest investment—which comes from a variety of tech multinationals to global banks—is a testament to the demand and success of our service, particularly in this difficult economic environment.”

Gerald further said, “Since our initial debut, Abound has grown steadily, and we’re eager for the next phase of development as we work to capitalize on the solid relationships we’ve built with customers and forever revolutionize lending.

“Waterfall is pleased to be part of Abound’s business expansion as it tries to utilize open banking in a more informed manner to help the consumer,” said Krishin Uttamchandani, Director at Waterfall Asset Management. “We are thrilled to work with the strong management team at Abound, which is backed by what we consider to be a solid tech stack, underwriting methodology, and risk management philosophy.”

Krishin added, “What Abound has accomplished in its first two years of lending is very remarkable and should serve as the foundation for a solid platform to better serve the clients who should be able to access more affordable credit through open banking. We are thrilled to be a part of the Abound path as a partner.”

“We are delighted to be investing in Abound’s parent company Fintern as it pushes itself to new heights with the latest capital raise,” said Kuok Meng Xiong, CEO of K3 Ventures. The lending sector is dominated by antiquated practices, such as conventional credit scoring, which downplays recent technological advancements.

“Abound offers a distinct offering and a differentiating strategy that is already working for thousands of customers. We anticipate that Abound’s offering will expand in the coming years,” He continued.

Image Credit: Abound