JustUs chooses Amsterdam for first stage of European expansion

JUSTUS has identified the Netherlands as its first European base as it eyes international expansion.

Lee Birkett, chief executive of the peer-to-peer lending platform, said the lender has already registered with the Netherlands regulatory authority and was waiting for Brexit to clear before launching.

He told Peer2Peer Finance News that this was a “natural evolution” for the platform as it already partners with aggregator Funding Options, which recently launched in the Netherlands.

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“We need a European presence and Amsterdam is a good springboard as it is only 50 minutes by plane from our base in Manchester,” he said.

“The UK fintech scene is very developed, whereas in Europe, crowdfunding and P2P have not really evolved yet.

“There is huge appetite for it as the European banks have not really recovered from the credit crunch and aren’t doing much lending.”

He said he was also looking at launching JustUs in Spain.

The increased focus on European expansion has come after Birkett took part in a UK trade mission to the Netherlands earlier this month where he introduced JustUs’s blockchain powered technology to European businesses and investors.

“There are plenty of international investors interested in P2P but don’t realise how blockchain can help fund and create cheaper cross-border transactions,” he said.

“We are just waiting for the Brexit outcome to see how we roll this out.”