Consumer credit start-up Creditspring has raised 拢2 million in investment and appointed a new advisory board.
The money will be used for product development, team expansion and market launch, with lead investor and BDT Capital veteran Chip Dunn becoming non-executive chairman of the board.
FinTech entrepreneur Brian Norton, MIT microeconomics professor Parag Pathak and Credit Suisse managing director Jason Wortendyke have been appointed to the board.
London-based Creditspring was founded by Neil Kadagathur and Aravind Chandrasekaran based on the conviction that the overpriced and overcomplicated consumer credit market in the UK was leaving too many people on a financial knife-edge, one micro-crisis away from disaster.
Drawing on their own experiences in the financial industry, having between them worked for names such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, they set out to make securing credit simpler, safer and cheaper.
鈥淲hat do you do when the fridge breaks, the MOT bill is bigger than expected or your child has an unexpected school trip?鈥� said Kadagathur.
鈥淔or too many people, it鈥檚 a very narrow and very scary list of options. We鈥檙e building a product to change that.
鈥淭his investment will help us give people a better option, and the belief and support that Chip, Brian, Parag and Jason have demonstrated by joining us makes me extremely confident that this will succeed in addressing the UK market鈥檚 needs.鈥�
Dunn brings more than 22 years of experience in principal investing, M&A and strategic advisory.
He said: 鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to join Creditspring as an investor and board member. They are building a fantastic team and great business model on a solid technological base.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 more, they鈥檙e fulfilling a genuine social and market need 鈥� I鈥檓 looking forward to working with Creditspring as they go from launch to market leader, starting in 2018.鈥�
Creditspring has applied to the FCA for full permission for consumer credit, with plans to release more details and launch their first product in early 2018.
鈥淲e鈥檙e creating a completely new way for people who want to take control of their financial wellbeing and protect themselves from unexpected shocks,鈥� said Chandrasekaran.
鈥淲e wish we could disclose more, but suffice to say this investment of capital and market experience is a huge step towards that goal.鈥�