Peer-to-peer finance startup Funda has netted 2.8 billion won (USD $2.43m) in investment from BC Card.
It’s the first time a major Korean card company has funded a P2P venture, and adds to Funda’s previous funding of 4.3 billion won ($3.82m) from several VC firms when the company was founded in 2015, including Korean Investment Partners and Intervest.
Funda’s platform estimates the future revenue of businesses by analyzing actual income, and calculates reliability plus the ability to repay loans by using deep learning and data collected from stores and throughout the industry.
The platform uses its own technology called ‘Funda Agent’ which scrapes and analyzes point of sales (POS) data in real time. Through partnerships and joint research with card companies, banks, credit rating agencies and value-added network customers, Funda is gradually improving this technology.
“This investment is meaningful as it is the first time a major card company has recognized the potential of a business through this type of investment, and will give customers a deeper trust in Funda as a finance company,” says Park Sung-joon, CEO of Funda. “Going forward, we will also offer a mid-interest rate loan service to businesses which differs from existing ones in the financial sector, and also provide investors with a safe 10% per annum investment product.”
A spokesperson for BC Card said that the decision to invest in the company was motivated by its specialized technology and unique data analysis compared to other P2P services. BC Card says that it will continue to actively support Funda so it can steadily grow into a successful startup.
