Linked Finance & Iconic Offices complete Ireland’s biggest ever P2P loan

Linked Finance has completed Ireland’s biggest ever P2P loan raising €150,000 for serviced office and flexible workspace provider, Iconic Offices. The loan is double the size of the previous biggest amount raised on the Linked Finance’s platform and was fully subscribed in less than 20 hours. The funds raised will be used to fit out Iconic Offices’ newest location at Herbert House, Dublin 2, adding to their existing portfolio of 14 properties.

Iconic Offices was launched in 2013 by CEO and Founder Joe McGinley to address a gap in the market for high quality, inspirational, affordable office space for SMEs. The company prides itself on creating stylish and flexible working environments and has over 300 clients to date, including major companies such as Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard and exciting start-ups including Jet.com

Iconic Offices plans to turn Herbert House into a co-working space where start-ups and established companies can work alongside each other with a real sense of community. Once completed, Herbert House will include a gym, shower facilities, a heated terrace/garden, an in-house barista and kitchen fully stocked with complimentary snacks and drinks, including beer on tap.

Since its launch in 2013, Linked Finance has raised over €16.5m for more than 600 Irish companies, providing borrowers with a fast and affordable alternative to traditional bank lending, while enabling savers to lend to trustworthy businesses at an attractive interest rate. Year to date, Linked Finance has lent over €8.5m to more than 300 companies, a 72% increase since 2015.

Joe McGinley , Founder and CEO of Iconic Offices, comments: “We have ambitious expansion plans for 2017 and Linked Finance provides a platform where we can raise money rapidly and with certainty. Herbert House will expand on our co-working offering, which is particularly attractive to progressive businesses looking for an atmosphere of collaboration and community. Our members can enjoy excellent facilities in top quality locations, without being tied into onerous 10 or 15 year leases, as expected by traditional landlords.”

Niall Dorrian, CEO Linked Finance comments: ‘‘2016 has been a transformational year for Linked Finance in which we have significantly increased the scale of our lending, and breadth of our client companies. This rapidly subscribed loan to Iconic Offices demonstrates that Linked Finance can help companies raise significant sums without the uncertainty and bureaucracy associated with traditional bank lending.”

In its next phase of growth, Linked Finance is targeting to have lent over €350m to SMEs by the end of 2019, with the ultimate goal of becoming the country’s biggest source of non-bank SME finance.

Linked Finance brings a new viable alternative to borrowing from the banks, where people with savings can connect and lend to trustworthy businesses that wish to borrow. Linked Finance allows lenders to make a difference to Irish businesses and earn better interest rates while businesses are free to keep their focus on growing their business.

More details on how to lend to businesses can be found at www.linkedfinance.com