U.K. Fintech Firm LendInvest Looks To Double Down After Brexit Vote

By WSJ

The threat of Brexit has failed to dent the plans of LendInvest, the U.K. online property lender that is looking to double in size.

“We’d like to hire 100 people in the next year or two,” said Christian Faes, co-founder and CEO of LendInvest. The new hires will be focused across the business, targeting technology, marketing and underwriting.

Launched in 2013, LendInvest currently focuses on short-term property lending, either matching investors with borrowers via an online platform, or through its investment funds.

The firm has grown from 30 employees in early 2015 to around 115. After going through six offices in eight years, the tech firm has set up shop in Fitzroy Place, a new upmarket development in Central London.

LendInvest posted a profit of £3.12 million and revenue of £15 million for the year to March 2015, according to the firm’s website. The U.K. firm includes as its backers venture capital firm Atomico, run by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström, and Beijing Kunlun, a Chinese technology company.

Following the Brexit vote in late June, U.K. fintech firms scrambled to understand out what the U.K.’s departure from the European Union meant for their businesses.

Mr. Faes said that there was little impact of Brexit on new business. “I was camped on the customer service desk thinking we are going to get lots of redemptions and the phone would be ringing off the hook. There actually wasn’t. Some of that is reflected in the fact that they are late-to-middle-aged males that don’t necessarily live in London and they may have voted to leave. So they are not disappointed with the result, and still are looking for somewhere to put their money where there is yield.”

LendInvest also recently hired Stephan Wilcke as a senior adviser. Mr. Wilcke was the chief of the U.K. Treasury’s Asset Protection Agency up until 2011, and is a non-executive board member of the U.K. challenger bank One Saving.

First apepared at WSJ