Zopa, the U.K. P2P lending company, closes £60M round on path to launching a bank
Obtaining a banking license and then launching an actual new retail bank requires capital. A lot of capital. Enter Zopa , the U.K. peer-to-peer lending company that wants to become a bank, which today is announcing that it has closed £60 million in further funding. Only £16 million is actually new new money, having already disclosed £44 million in August, so this is effectively an extension of that earlier fund-raise. To purpose remains the same, however: Zopa says it will use the latest round of investment towards the capital needs for its yet-to-launch “next generation bank”. The company began applying for a bank license with the U.K. regulators in 2016. The new funding also comes off the back of what the fintech claims is its sustainable and profitable peer-to-peer business, having achieved full year profitability in 2017 for the first time since 2012. An early mover in the space — launching all the way back in 2005 — Zopa says it has served nearly half a million customers, eithe...