Index Ventures

auxmoney raises $12 million from Index Ventures and Union Square Ventures

March 12 2013

auxmoney, Germany's leading online marketplace where private consumers can borrow directly from private investors, secures $12 million funding from Index Ventures (other investments include Skype and Dropbox) and Union Square Ventures (other investments include Twitter and Lending Club, the highly successful P2P lending platform in the US). This funding puts auxmoney in the unique position to further capitalize on its market leading position in Germany’s P2P landscape and continue on its rapid expansion course.

Founded by Raffael Johnen, Philipp Kriependorf and Philip Kamp in 2007, auxmoney is a web-based marketplace allowing private borrowers to secure personal loans funded by private investors. auxmoney eliminates the high cost and complexity of traditional bank lending by offering a transparent marketplace where lenders and borrowers can interact directly with each other.

Since inception auxmoney has facilitated over 11,000 loans worth €45 million to private borrowers, over 50% of which were issued in the last 12 months. The company’s growth is fuelled by investors seeking attractive and predictable returns on their capital as well as borrowers looking for better rates or alternatives to traditional bank loans.

To further accelerate its growth, auxmoney recently enhanced its loan marketplace to offer a better experience for both lenders and borrowers.  As well as upgrading the site’s user interface, the company abolished all entry fees which were previously payable by loan applicants and launched an Investor Cockpit to enable the platform’s lenders a fully transparent and convenient lending experience.

Raffael Johnen, co-founder and CEO of auxmoney said:

"We are delighted to welcome Index Ventures and Union Square Ventures, two prominent and highly experienced partners, on board. Both are intimately familiar with online marketplaces such as ours and ideally qualified within global financial services. As financial markets are undergoing structural changes, our strong financial backing supports our ambitious expansion plans and put us in an ideal position to further capitalize on the growing demand for crowdlending in Germany.”

auxmoney intends to use the funding to further enhance its product offering and significantly expand its 30-strong team in Duesseldorf.

Raffael Johnen explains: "We are about to witness a major shift in consumer behaviour towards peer-to-peer lending. auxmoney is at the forefront of this development. With our new partners on board, we are ready to turn crowdlending into a recognised, exciting and integral part of Germany's consumer finance landscape.”

Neil Rimer, co-founder and Partner of Index Ventures, said:

“We are excited to be partnering with this outstanding financial services firm offering a strong value proposition: great returns for investors, low cost and unbureaucratic loans for borrowers. auxmoney has already done a terrific job of building awareness and attracting a large customer base in Germany. On the back of auxmoney's recent platform upgrades, which further improve the company's services to both borrowers and lenders, we expect auxmoney to become a vital alternative to traditional bank loans in Germany.“

John Buttrick, Partner at Union Square Ventures, commented:

"We are thrilled to invest in auxmoney. The company is led by an impressive and experienced management team who have developed a highly scalable platform that will continue to benefit from the challenges faced by the banks. Union Square Ventures made prior investments in Lending Club (US) in 2011 and Funding Circle (UK) in 2012. We believe loan marketplaces such as auxmoney, Lending Club and Funding Circle are a more efficient business model for both borrowers and investors. We look forward to auxmoney becoming a leading Internet company in Europe’s financial services space.”