Crowd2Fund secondary market set for relaunch
Crowd2Fund has signalled that its secondary market could reopen early this year.
The peer-to-peer business lender had paused new listings and its secondary market at the height of the pandemic last April but only reopened to new loans in October.
Its secondary market, called the Exchange, has remained closed.
But a new year update from the platform’s founder Chris Hancock (pictured) suggests it could reopen soon with new features.
“The new Exchange will continue to improve on the feature allowing investors the ability to sell their investments and choose the price,” he said.
“They will also receive real-time updates on businesses, giving more up to date information to allow investors to make informed investment decisions and set accurate sale prices for buyers.
“Enhancements crucially focus on protecting investors from losses caused via the Exchange, accuracy of listing price, and loan status transparency.”
Hancock had said last year that Crowd2Fund was accredited to provide finance under the coronavirus business interruption loans scheme (CBILS).
This was never confirmed publicly by the British Business Bank but Hancock has now claimed in his new year update that the platform decided not to offer the loans as it “jarred with our proposition, which is tailored exclusively for private investors, rather than institutional funds.”
He said he is focusing on preparing the platform for scale once the emergency stimulus ends.
The application deadline for CBILS is currently 31 March 2021.
Crowd2Fund has also been trying to raise money for the platform to be matched through the government’s future fund.
It has received £3m of pledges so far and Hancock said he is confident it will exceed its £10m target.