PeopleFund, a South Korea-based peer-to-peer lending marketplace backed by corporates Kakao, Dayli Financial and Asia Cement, has raised $35m in series B financing from investors including financial services firm Shinhan Financial Group.
The tranche represented the round’s second close and was led by debt financing vehicle Lending Ark Asia Secured Private Debt Fund. It consisted of $5m of equity funding and $30m in secured debt, and included Shinhan vehicle Shinhan Invest in addition to impact investment fund D3 Jubilee and unnamed existing backers.
PeopleFund runs a peer-to-peer lending marketplace that provides access to personal and business loans that have been processed using the financial infrastructure of financial services partner Jeonbuk Bank.
The equity portion of the series B round now stands at $16m. The initial $11m tranche was led by internet group Kakao’s mobile payment offshoot, KakaoPay, and backed by financial services group Dayli Financial, D3 Jubilee and venture capital firm 500 Startups in October 2018.
PeopleFund’s services are available through the Kakao messaging app, under a strategic partnership agreed at the time of KakaoPay’s investment. The additional series B cash will go to the company’s international expansion, with the $30m debt instrument earmarked specifically for the scale-up of its lending operation.
Carol Lee Park, managing director of Lending Ark, has joined PeopleFund’s board of directors in connection with the round.
Wooshin Venture Investment, a subsidiary of building materials supplier Asia Cement, participated in PeopleFund’s $5.7m series A round in 2017, investing alongside Dayli Financial, D3 Jubilee and 500 Startups.