Borro closes £67 million lending facility with Victory Park Capital

Borro, the specialist asset lender, has closed a £67 million ($112 million) loan with Victory Park Capital, a middle-market asset management firm.

“This new lending line represents the confidence the market has in our business, and in Victory Park Capital we have a very important partnership that provides a significant new lending capacity,” says Paul Aiken, CEO and founder of borro. “ It is another exciting step for Borro, and will allow us to meet the increasing demand from clients for large-scale loans in both the UK and the US.  Ultimately it maximises our opportunity to become the leading global liquidity platform for luxury personal assets.”

In January this year borro announced that it had made loans worth more than $100 million. Art loans – which included a Salvador Dali watercolour – accounted for 21% of all loans.

The average loan that borro makes is £7,000.

Aitken founded borro in 2008. It started making loans to UK customers in 2009 and opened in the US in 2012. Borro’s investors include Canaan Partners, Ribbit Capital, Augmentum Capital, European Founders Fund, Eden Ventures and Octopus Investments.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to partner with Borro, especially at this point in the company’s lifecycle as it continues into new geographical markets,” said Brendan Carroll, Partner, Victory Park Capital. “Paul has surrounded himself with an accomplished team and we look forward to helping Borro take its innovative business model to the next level.”

Borro holds assets that it has lent against in warehouses until loans are fully repaid.

Borro loans by asset class (%) in January 2014

Private Art Investor take: Traditional art financiers may not see borro as a true competitor, but it is growing fast and with an a £7,000 ($15,000) average loan it is targeting a market that is under served by other lenders.