REX: Lendix Looks Back

In their third open letter to date, the French crowdfunding company Lendix looks back on their 2017 results. They also stress their ambitions for 2018, including upcoming projects.

By the end of 2017, Lendix had reached their goal in terms of business loans, as they had lent more than 140 million euros. Their platform still leads the French market, and is very likely to gain further traction since they also launched a new SME-oriented financing offer in November 2017.

This platform now has 10,000 active individual customers. It also managed partnerships with some institutional investors, including Bpifrance, the European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund.

Lendix is also considering additional institutional funds (the amount of which should be specified later). And they are working on optimising their lending processes (faster responses). Eventually, Lendix intends to enter two more European markets in 2018, besides Spain and Italy.

Comments – Unescapable: making transparency a point

Lowering risks: the first required improvement identified by Lendix in their open letter relates to risk management. Their reported results are meant to stress their dynamism, as well as the notions of transparency and trust they owe to their customers.

This exercise in transparency is commonplace in the US, see Lemonade, for instance, and has become inescapable in Europe, too.

Scaling up

Lendix also claims they are the first viable European alternative for SME financing. They will spend most of 2018 consolidating their positions.

By way of reminder, here is how Lendix works: for each project, 51% of the amount is allocated to the debt funds, composed of institutional investors, knowledgeable lenders, and family offices. The remaining proportion is open to private investors for a few weeks. After one week, the debt funds will complete the loan.