Crowd2Fund prepares to support firms through CBILS
Crowd2Fund has revealed that it is set to be approved for the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) and plans to deploy £100m to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) between now and 2021.
The peer-to-peer business lender, which paused new investments and its secondary market in April, said that becoming CBILS approved will form part of its new proposition and will enable the platform to dramatically scale up.
Crowd2Fund said it has been comprehensively reviewed by the British Business Bank as part of its application for the emergency scheme, which gives a government guarantee of 80 per cent of the value of the loans.
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The firm also said that multiple government departments have been supporting the repositioning of the platform to facilitate the deployment of large volumes of institutional credit.
With CBILS, the borrower rates will be reduced from the typical 15 per cent annual percentage rate (APR) to seven to eight per cent APR with additional discounts on fees for businesses.
Crowd2Fund also revealed that it is currently in the process of negotiating a credit line with multiple, multinational institutional banks and funds, to provide a significant amount of emergency credit to Crowd2Fund clients and other businesses.
“We’re thrilled to be one of the platforms that are being utilised by the government to help reboot the economy post-crisis,” said Chris Hancock, founder and chief executive of Crowd2Fund said in a blog on the platform’s website.
“The Crowd2Fund platform and expertise can ensure that high volumes of capital can be deployed to the right businesses at pace. We’re glad to see the state-of-the-art technology being put to use.”
Crowd2Fund is currently finalising the re-launch of its platform, reviewing compliance procedures and preparing new financial products.
The firm announced in a separate blog post that it is planning to launch its ‘Reboot Britain’ campaign as part of the platform re-launch.
“The ‘Reboot Britain’ campaign, will enable pioneering UK entrepreneurs to access this investment with the support and mentorship of the Crowd2Fund investor community,” it said.
“It will also give SMEs a platform to scale internationally. Innovative businesses will receive growth investment and we will provide a springboard for the best UK businesses, who are ready for growth. Platform features will be significantly improved under the campaign.”
Investors will be able to receive monthly interest repayments, convert this into equity or sell their investment via the platform’s secondary market.
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