Investment banking firm Goldman Sachs has provided £100m ($133m) of debt and equity financing for UK-based online consumer lending platform Neyber, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
The capital was secured alongside approximately $20m in debt financing from bankers Gael de Boissard and Henry Ritchotte, and Goldman Sachs will take a board observer position at the company through the deal.
Neyber offers consumer loans that are secured against a borrower’s salary, enabling repayments to be deducted directly from their wages. The model also allows the company to obtain customer data through access to their employers’ payroll systems.
The loans are provided through third parties including City Airport, Anglian Water, health insurance provider Bupa and trusts run by the UK’s National Health Service. Neyber also plans to launch a savings product that will involve loans being packaged into a tax-free ISA scheme.
The new funding comes after India-based financial services firm Wadhawan Global Capital led a £21m series C round for Neyber last month. Police Mutual, the mutual society set up to support the British police force, Ritchotte and de Boissard had invested £7.5m in the company in April 2017.
Neyber had raised a total of £2.5m when it added £6m in funding from backers including angel investor John Spearman in January 2016.
Martin Ijaha, co-founder and CEO of Neyber, said: “Goldman Sachs joins Police Mutual and WGC to create a group of core strategic investors in Neyber.
“Collectively the investment and expertise these three organisations bring across areas such as capital markets, financial services and credit risk will serve to cement Neyber’s position as the leading player in the UK salary deducted lending market.”