CLSA backs Series B extension for Korea's PeopleFund

The extension includes a $30 million debt facility from Lending Ark, in addition to a $5 million equity component joined by new and existing investors including Shinhan Invest and D3 Jubilee Partners. PeopleFund closed the $11 million initial tranche of the Series B round, led by Korean internet platform Kakao through its payments service Kakaopay, last October. According to a statement, the new commitment brings its total equity capital raised to $21 million.

PeopleFund focuses on providing personal consumer loans, using a proprietary automated credit model to identify near-prime borrowers who are rejected by traditional banks but are still capable of repayment. The company claims to be the only Korean peer-to-peer (P2P) lender to receive foreign investment, and the first to partner with a major commercial bank.

The new financing will be used to scale up PeopleFund’s lending business and pursue international expansion. Carol Lee Park, a managing director at Lending Ark, will join the company’s board, and Gregory Park, a managing director and fund head of Lending Ark, has been named as one of three advisors that will provide strategic counsel for PeopleFund’s global growth plans.

Lending Ark invests in high-quality private debt opportunities across Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, seeing an imbalance between demand for credit from companies serving Asia’s rising middle class and a shrinking supply available from banks due to capital constraints. Investments focus on secured private debt financing, senior and mezzanine tranches of asset-backed securities, and bank collateralized loan obligations.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• North Asia
• Credit
• Financials
• South Korea
• CLSA Capital Partners
• Financial Services
• Structured finance