Growth Street announced last week it would now accept individual retail investors on its peer to peer lending platform. They may do this now as they are an FCA registered Appointed Representative pursuant to a partnership with another firm.
Growth Street, which was founded in 2013 by Sherwin-Smith and Greg Carter, is on a mission to help businesses grow by offering fairly priced, straightforward finance along with providing guidance to improve financial procedures that are vital to growing businesses. Investors gain some additional protection as Growth Street has created a protection fund to cover both losses. The platform also allows investors the ability to withdraw funds at a 30-day notice.
James Sherwin-Smith, CEO of Growth Street, described the step of becoming an Appointed Representative as important to the Growth Street journey while indicated its intent to continue a direct application with the FCA. Crowdfund Insider reached out to Sherwin-Smith to inquire further on the status of his platform.
Crowdfund Insider: How long did it take for Growth Street to be listed as an Appointed Representative on the FCA’s financial services register?
Sherwin-Smith: Less than a year.
Crowdfund Insider: What makes Growth Street stand out from other peer-to-peer lending platforms?
Sherwin-Smith: Growth Street is the only P2P platform offering revolving credit, which we provide in the form of secured business overdrafts. Borrowers share their performance data with Growth Street on an ongoing basis. This means we can offer businesses the best possible terms given their latest performance, share insights back with our customers to help them make more informed decisions and ultimately help firms grow faster.
Crowdfund Insider: How much lending has Growth Street originated since platform launch?
Sherwin-Smith: Over £34 million has been matched on the platform to date.
Crowdfund Insider: What are the future plans for Growth Street?
Sherwin-Smith: Increase the number of businesses we support, including offering cash flow forecasting and current accounts to businesses for free.