SoftBank China invests in P2P lending site Yooli.com
Chinese peer-to-peer financing platform Yooli.com has received $10 million in Series A funding from Softbank China Capital. The platform launched in February but already has nearly 100,000 registered users and has transacted more than RMB264 million ($43 million).
The company said in a statement that the funding was evidence of commercial investors' recognition of an innovative business model. It will use the new capital to maintain the fast growth of its P2P network.
Yooli is operated by Honghe Boji, which was set up by Yannan Liu, formerly of Merrill Lynch and TPG Capital. It connects individual lenders with small-scale borrowers, whose credit rating is assessed by third-party institutions that are not involved in the transactions. Yooli has also partnered with third-party guarantors to ensure lenders receive monthly returns.
Online financial services are booming in China. A host of manufacturers and retailers - including Alibaba Group, JD.com and Suning - are preparing to apply for bank licenses as the government seeks to introduce more competition and services to the financial sector.
CreditEase, China's largest P2P platform, has received investment from IDG Capital Partners, Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia and KPCB since its inception in 2006. It expanded quickly and now provides a range of consultation services, including wealth management, credit rating and microcredit lending.
Last month CreditEase and IDG teamed up to create a microcredit fund, which will back other financial services start-ups. It will target internet finance technology, specifically lending, microcredit mechanisms, credit ratings, payment services and risk management enterprises in China and Silicon Valley.
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