GIC leads $220m Series D for China’s Dianrong
Chinese peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform Dianrong.com has raised a $220 million Series D round led by Singapore’s GIC Private.
Other investors included CMIG Leasing, a unit of China's largest private investment conglomerate China Minsheng Investment Group (CMIG), and South Korean alternative asset manager Simone Investment Managers. Dianrong’s previous round closed in 2015, led by Standard Chartered Private Equity and China Fintech fund.
The Dianrong platform – which connects individual lenders and small-scale borrowers – was launched in March 2013 by Soul Htite, and Kevin Guo, an intellectual property lawyer. The company differs from many Chinese P2P practitioners in that it is purely an intermediary, sourcing borrowers and then putting them in front of prospective lenders rather than behaving like a bank without a proper license. However, Dianrong has a reserve fund to protect lenders in case of borrower defaults or late payments.
Over the past four years, Dianrong has expanded into different services, including the launch of Tuan Tuan Zhan (TTZ), which can automatically allocate a lender’s capital across different loan products based on his or her investment profiles. The company also provides technology-based lending solutions, such as big data controls and blockchain, to banks such as Bank of Suzhou in China and Hanhwa Life Insurance in South Korea.
In May, Dianrong launched a marketplace in Hong Kong allowing Asian investors to buy US consumer loans. This was followed last month by the acquisition of the asset-origination business of Shanghai-based Quark Finance as part of efforts to increase the volume of loans on the platform.
“Dianrong's commitment to technology, transparency and compliance makes it a trusted partner and the right investment for us. CMIG Leasing was impressed by the company's achievements in fintech and their perfect utilization in the lending business,” Tang Min, president of CM International Financial Leasing, said in a statement.
The proceeds of the latest investment will be used to improve risk management and automation technology, as well as for R&D, M&A, and international expansion.
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