The company, founded in 2019 by Andrea Olivari, Hubert Fenwick, and Leonard Benning, Selina Finance offers credit facilities up to USD 1.3 million, which allows SMEs and consumers to borrow against the equity tied up in their homes or investment property.
FREMONT, CA: U.K. based digital lender Selina Finance secured USD 53.5 million in a Series A funding round that consisted of USD 15.2 million in equity from Picus Capital and Global Founders Capital and USD 38.3 million in debt financing. The company will use the proceeds for its growth by accelerating its growth plan and investment in technology as it prepares to enter the consumer lending market later this year, subject to regulatory approval. The debt lines will support more SMEs and post-regulatory approval, consumers across the U.K.
"Homeowners deserve to be able to unlock the value tied up in the home they've worked so hard for, both at an affordable price and in a flexible manner. We want to help people tap into their real estate wealth whenever they need to borrow funds, by making the whole process, from application to funding, as seamless and as fast as possible," said Selina Finance co-founder Hubert Fenwick.
The company, founded in 2019 by Andrea Olivari, Hubert Fenwick, and Leonard Benning, Selina Finance offers credit facilities up to USD 1.3 million, which allows SMEs and consumers to borrow against the equity tied up in their homes or investment property. The company says the solution is with no setup, early repayment, or valuation fees. It offers flexibility to allow borrowers to draw and repay funds whenever they choose and pay interest on what is outstanding.
Selina's technology operates a two-sided marketplace. On the one hand, its algorithms process details about the property to determine its market value and how it will depreciate. On the other hand, it evaluates the health of the SME business, and the purpose of the loan, to determine whether the borrower will be good for it. To date, none of the company's customers have defaulted on loans.
"We have the security of the home, yes," said co-founder Andrea Olivari, "but we only take credit-worthy customers to make sure the default scenario doesn't happen. It's something that we avoid at any cost. Technically there is a long process that leads to that outcome, but it rarely happens." Olivari noted that the company has people on its team who have worked for sub-prime lenders, giving them experience in determining prime opportunities.
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