Feedback: Zopa reaches one billion and another dimension

Zopa is a British FinTech specializing in peer-to-peer lending, with big ambitions. It will now be able to realize these ambitions more easily thanks to a new financial backer: Softbank, whose appetite for European FinTechs is confirmed.

FACTS

• Founded in 2005, Zopa became known as the world's first peer-to-peer lending company.

• Zopa has just completed the largest fundraising in its history, raising £220 million ($300 million).

• The round was led by Softbank Vision Fund 2, as well as historic FinTech investors such as Silverstripe, Northzone, Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP and Augmentum.

• This fundraising is accompanied by another announcement, as Zopa is said to be on the verge of breaking even.

• The British FinTech expects to do so by the end of the year.

• With 500,000 UK customers, Zopa is now valued at $1 billion.

CHALLENGES

• Less specialization: This new round of financing is also an opportunity for Zopa to clarify its strategic ambitions around the deployment of new services. However, more than credit, savings remain at the heart of its objectives, as it was in 2020 after the launch of its bank.

• Validating a model: Zopa is also taking advantage of this fundraising announcement to clarify the latest results of its activities. Just over a year after launching its bank, Zopa has accumulated £675 million in deposits for its savings accounts. The FinTech has also issued 150,000 credit cards, putting it in the top 10 credit card issuers in the country. Since launching its credit business, Zopa has lent more than £6 billion.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• If Zopa does break even in the next few months, it would be one of the fastest-growing digital banks to become profitable, just 18 months after actually obtaining its banking license.

• Zopa is also said to be preparing for an IPO in the fourth quarter of 2022.

• For SoftBank, this financing is not its first support for European FinTech. The international investment giant recently participated in the creation of another Unicorn, this time in France, with Swile.