Maven has completed a £1.1 million investment in Growth Capital Ventures (GCV), a leading developer and operator of specialist online investment and alternative finance platforms, connecting entrepreneurs and high growth businesses with investors.
The investment will enable GCV to develop a new Peer to Peer lending (P2P) platform, tapping into the UK online alternative finance market which raised £3.2 billion in 2015, up from £1.74 billion in the previous year.
The new platform will focus on providing access to pre-vetted, quality investment opportunities that have the potential to deliver strong investment growth, and support syndication between institutional, professional and retail investors.
The squeeze on bank lending to businesses, allied with low interest rates, affecting individual investors' savings, have fuelled the equity crowdfunding and P2P investment trend, making alternative finance as an asset class more mainstream. GCV launched its first platform, GrowthFunders, in 2014 and has since successfully matched a number of innovative businesses with investors.
Maven’s funding will also support the business in developing its existing investment platforms and increasing deal flow for its expanding investor base, targeting a number of core sectors including real estate, technology and clean energy.
Led by co-founders Norman Peterson and Craig Peterson, who both have a strong entrepreneurial background and extensive experience in raising early stage capital for growth focused businesses or projects, GCV has embraced the use of technology to develop a highly scalable online model.
“Alternative finance, including crowdfunding and peer to peer lending is becoming an increasingly mainstream asset class. Maven is pleased to support GCV to enable it to further develop and enhance its highly sophisticated investment platform which has been uniquely designed to connect investors with opportunities across the real estate, technology and clean energy sectors. The management team is highly experienced and we have every confidence in its ability to source deals and raise capital for thoroughly vetted businesses and projects that deliver impact and growth.”
Bill Kennedy, Partner at Maven
“As a result of Maven’s investment, we will be able to evolve the GrowthFunders platform and add P2P lending to our model, which will enable investors to access an additional number of asset classes and build a diversified and balanced portfolio. We are committed to providing our investors with a cost-effective, streamlined service, focused on delivering better risk-adjusted returns and will continue to offer access to early stage business investment opportunities which benefit from SEIS and EIS tax reliefs. We will evolve the platform to offer investment opportunities in property and clean energy projects that provide access to asset backed investment opportunities where value can be added through development and/or active asset management.”
Norman Peterson, co-founder and CEO at GCV
“The alternative finance sector has a valuable part to play in stimulating economic growth and innovation in the UK. Equity and lending based platforms have seen an increase in co-investment from institutional investors, a trend we believe will increase significantly in the coming years. Our online investors are keen to participate alongside specialist institutional investors to support businesses and projects that have the potential to make a difference precisely because they are tackling problems in underserved markets."
Craig Peterson, co-founder, and COO at GCV