Legend Holding invests in China P2P lending platform Eloancn

Founded in 2007, Wenzhou-based Eloancn serves as a bridge between individual lenders and small-scale borrowers, essentially helping to meet the credit needs of enterprises that rarely receive support from commercial banks.

The company differes from other P2P platforms in that it focuses on providing loans for agriculture, farming and rural businesses. The firm has set up more than 1,000 operating centers in over 100 cities in China. As of October 2014, it had facilitated RMB1.72 billion ($281 billion) in transactions, up from RMB300 million at the end of 2013.

The new capital will be used for market expansion, IT system upgrades and acquisitions of other industry players.

There were 600 P2P lending sites in China at the end of 2013, up from 240 in 2012 and 20 in 2011. As of June 2014, there were 1,263. Transaction volume reached RMB10 billion in the first half of the year - close to the full-year total for 2013 - according to the Internet Society of China.

VC investment in the space is rising in tandem with market interest. According to AVCJ Research, about $99 million has been invested in four online P2P sites so far this year, while the valuations for six more deals have not been disclosed. This compares to $143 million for two disclosed deals in 2013 and $25 million for one transaction in 2012.

The likes of PPDai, Yooli, Dianrong, Jimubox have all received funding from VC investors.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Venture
• China
• Venture
• Financial Services