New Private Equity strategy from 3 industry leaders to focus on marketplace lending industry
The continued growth of the sector and the unique investment opportunities in the marketplace lending industry are the main reasons why three key industry leaders are partnering to form LendTech Capital Partners ("LendTech"), a new investment advisor focused on private equity strategies within the marketplace lending industry.
LendTech has been established pursuant to a joint venture between affiliates of Liberum, a London based investment bank who conceived Europe's first institutional investor in marketplace loans in 2013 and has raised over $1.9B for marketplace lending funds and platforms; Ranger Alternative Management II, LP, an investment advisor which manages two leading direct lending funds, The Ranger Specialty Income Fund and the Ranger Direct Lending Fund, the latter which is publicly traded on the main market of the London Stock Exchange (ticker: RDL) and Velocity Venture Group, whose members have led over $3B in strategic investments, acquisitions, and recapitalizations in the payments, transaction services, and banking industries.
LendTech is in a unique position to leverage the three affiliate partners' industry experience and access to deal flow to take advantage of one of the fastest growth Fintech sectors, Marketplace Lending.
Marketplace Lending is in a critical growth phase with the continued international disruption of bank lending, the expansion into multiple lending sectors and major financial institutions now entering the space.
In the five years to 2015, the annual volumes of the leading 8 US & UK platforms have increased by a factor of 100x, reaching $23B of loan origination in 2015. LendTech's unique expertise and insight into the Fintech sector strongly positions the strategy to make strategic investments in well-positioned Lending platforms and in the services and technology providers surrounding them.
"We strongly believe in the advantages that Marketplace Lending offers over traditional bank lending," states Cormac Leech, a director in Liberum Alternative Finance. "With their cost effective models, more friendly borrower experience and their ability to pull large amounts of borrower data quickly, Marketplace Lenders are the future of the financial industry."
LendTech's private equity strategy seeks to make Seed, Series A, and follow on investments and will focus on not just marketplace lending platforms, but also complimentary businesses in industries such as technology, media and marketing.
"The partners behind LendTech provide a tremendous advantage by enabling us to leverage well timed investments in businesses poised for rapid growth," states Andrew Rueff, a partner at Velocity Venture Group. "We are focusing investments on strategic companies that have clearly defined competitive advantages coupled with strong management teams."
"Because we have a deep understanding of the industry and how marketplace lending platform valuations are tied closely to their originations, it gives us a competitive advantage," states Bill Kassul, a principal in Ranger Alternatives Management II, LP. "In the past year, all three of LendTech's affiliate partners have been approached by private equity investors who wanted to leverage our exclusive insight into deal flow. This new fund will allow them to do this".
For more information about the LendTech Capital strategy, please contact Bryan Chambers at +1 214-207-4080 or [email protected].
About Ranger Alternative Management
The Ranger Specialty Income and the Ranger Direct Lending strategies are advised by Ranger Alternative Management II, LP. Ranger Alternative Management is an affiliate of Ranger Capital Group a holding company which controls a variety of registered investment advisers offering traditional and alternative investment opportunities to institutional and high net worth individual investors. Additional information regarding Ranger Capital Group and its affiliated investment advisers may be obtained on-line at www.rangercap.com.
About Liberum
Liberum is an investment banking group with offices in London and New York, started in 2007. It focuses on raising capital for UK and international businesses, totaling over $20 billion to date, and providing investment ideas and research to institutional investors. Liberum has a dedicated Alternative Finance team that has relationships with leading and emerging online lending platforms and funding providers globally. The team selectively combines making venture capital investments with being a development partner for platforms, leveraging Liberum's ability to source lending and equity capital in the sector – over $1.9 billion to date.
About Velocity Venture Group
Velocity is a Fintech advisory firm located in Dallas, Texas. Velocity partners with selected businesses to manage comprehensive capitalization and growth strategies. Velocity members have led over $3 billion in strategic investments, acquisitions, and recapitalizations in the payments, transaction services, and banking industries. The partners at Velocity have experience making venture capital investments, managing high growth technology businesses, and leading them through to successful exits.
