Funding Circle announces new board member

Funding Circle, the world’s leading lending platform for business loans, today announced that Eric Daniels, former Chief Executive of Lloyds Banking Group will join the Funding Circle Board as a Non-Executive Director. Daniels joins with immediate effect and brings with him more than 40 years’ experience in global banking and financial services.

Daniels began his career with Citibank where he spent 25 years and held a number of key managerial positions across a range of businesses and countries. In 2001, he joined Lloyds and was appointed to the Board as Group Executive Director with responsibility for the retail banking division. He became Chief Executive of Lloyds TSB in 2003 before retiring as Chief Executive of Lloyds Banking Group in 2011.

Speaking about his appointment, Eric Daniels said: “I’ve been hugely impressed by what the team at Funding Circle has achieved over the last six years. Their commitment to helping small businesses across the world to access the finance they need to grow is bold and exciting. I’m looking forward to working with the team as we continue the next stage of our growth.”

Alongside his role at Funding Circle, Daniels holds a number of other senior advisory positions. He is Principal and Senior Adviser at Stormharbour, Senior Adviser to CVC Capital Partners, Non-Executive Director at Russell Reynolds Associates, Board Member of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and a Trustee of the Smithsonian UK Charitable Trust.

Commenting on today’s news, Samir Desai, CEO and founder of Funding Circle said: “When we first launched Funding Circle our vision was to create the infrastructure – similar to a stock exchange or bond market – where individuals, financial institutions and governments could all lend to creditworthy small businesses. Eric’s deep experience and knowledge of global financial services will be integral to us as we continue to work towards fulfilling this vision.”

Launched in 2010, Funding Circle is helping to spark a global revolution in the way small businesses access finance, disrupting the traditional model of banking. Over the last six years more than $2.5 billion has been lent to 20,000 businesses across the UK, USA, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands.

Through Funding Circle, businesses typically access the capital they need in less than a week compared to 15-20 weeks with a bank. Independent research* has found that more than 90% of businesses would come to Funding Circle first in future, ahead of a bank.

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