Flender, a new peer-to-peer finance platform, was officially launched at a Regus Business Community event at its centre in Ballsbridge this month. It has claims to be the first platform in Ireland and the UK to formalise the existing lending market between family and friends. Using Flender, businesses can raise finance through their existing customer base and networks. Coffee chains, butchers, health food stores and accountancy firms are among the Irish businesses who have so far reached out to their customers and contacts, asking for anything from €20,000 to €100,000 in crowd-funding finance through Flender. The company was founded two years ago by Kris Koik, Ollie Cavanagh and Jeremy Davies, with a presence in the UK and Ireland. The idea for Flender arose from the founders’ first-hand experience of how difficult it was to raise startup finance. Koik explained: “Unless you’re trying to raise €1m, nobody wants to look at you. But all of us had our social circles, including people who had money, saving it in deposit accounts and making no return.” Flender’s USP hinges on tapping this social dimension to lending. The Flender setup would, for example, see an individual or business request a loan amount. Friends and customers then offer their own loan amounts and interest rates, Flender’s back-end software calculates a blended rate equal to or less than the borrower’s interest rate preference and the deal is sealed. “Lenders can charge you 0% interest rate if they want to – no other P2P platform allows this,” Koik added. Flender plans to charge an average commission of 2.5% for consumers and 3.5% for businesses. Having already piloted the platform in Ireland, Flender has facilitated social network loans for business startups, small business expansion, car finance, home improvements and student loans. Oli Cavanagh points out that added benefits to the Flender type of lending and borrowing include strengthened relationships, loyalty and goodwill with customers, who can earn a healthy return on their investment and the opportunity to play a part of their contact’s business growth and success. “We know that there is a strong appetite for this type of transparent crowdfunding,” said Cavanagh. “Regus’ business community event presented the ideal occasion for us to celebrate our launch. Our team of six work from our office space in Regus and we believe that opening new locations for Flender will be hassle free as we scale internationally.” The company recently successfully closed a Seedrs fundraising campaign, raising £500,000 for 10% of the equity. Photo: Flender founders Oli Cavanagh (left) and Kristjan Koik (right), with Gearoid Collins, Regus Ireland (Pic: Robbie Reynolds)
Peer - to - peer platform Flender has opened for business . The company , which launched in Dublin , claims to be the first bank in the UK and Ireland to create a formal lending market between family and friends , with businesses able to fundraise through existing customers and their networks . Flender offers crowdfunding from € 20,000 to € 100,000 , making it attractive to small and medium - sized businesses , such as cafes and professional banking firms .