Folk2Folk

Folk2Folk

• FOLK2FOLK is a Marketplace lending platform (MPL) specialising in secured lending for business owners across regional Britain.
• It matches businesses looking for finance with local individual (retail) and institutional investors who receive a fixed interest rate typically 6.5% p.a. secured against UK land or property.
• Investors receive the same interest rate that the Borrower pays, with FOLK2FOLK making its profit from an arrangement fee and annual renewal fee charged to Borrowers.
• FOLK2FOLK enables money to be borrowed and lent based on the concept of ‘fair exchange’ and secured against land and property.
• Regulation
  • FOLK2FOLK is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
• Sectors
  • FOLK2FOLK borrowers come from a variety of sectors including renewable energy, property development, agriculture, hospitality, leisure and tourism facilities and land and property acquisition.
• In July 2020, FOLK2FOLK was accredited by the British Business Bank to deliver CBILS loans.
• In February 2021, FOLK2FOLK announced its evolution from a P2P platform to a Marketplace lending platform.
• Model
  • FOLK2FOLK introduces people and institutions with at least £20,000 to invest to businesses looking for finance of at least £100,000.
  • The company requires loans to be secured by land or property owned by the borrower but not the borrower’s home.
  • Investors are high net worth individuals or institutions.
  • It aims to enable businesses to access finance in weeks not months.
  • This model of allowing people in business to access interest-only funds (and an opportunity for people to lend within their local area) is said to have helped mobilise money in the countryside and re-energised many small businesses that would have otherwise lacked the necessary investment to develop.