Business

Financial technology firm Orca in £280,000 seed funding boost

BELAST-based fintech company Orca Money has raised £280,000 seed capital which it will use to build on it peer-to-peer lending focused financial media site Orca Retail, launched a year ago.

The alternative finance market has continued to flourish in the UK, with the peer-to-peer lending market growing to £3.13 billion last year and featuring more than 177,000 investors.

With so many different platforms available, Orca Money makes it easy for investors to analyse the various deals offered and allow them to make better decisions.

Founded by Iain Niblock and Jordan Stodart, Orca was incorporated in 2015 as the pair joined the tech accelerator Start Planet NI, based in Belfast. It was here where Orca Money grew and caught the eye of venture capitalist firm TechStart NI, which led this latest seed round alongside the Halo NI EIS Fund and private investors, including members of the NI Fintech Syndicate.

The Orca team is also developing an analytic software solution called Orca Analytics, which will allow independent financial advisers to recommend peer-to-peer investments to their clients.

A third product, Orca Investments, will be launched early 2018 allowing retail investors and IFAs to invest in a diversified fund, comprised of peer-to-peer investments.

Iain Niblock said: “Peer-to-peer offers investors higher, more stable returns. It’s an asset class knocking on the door of being mainstream, with massive growth potential through the Innovative Finance ISA.

"We’re excited to be developing tools to help investors and IFAs benefit from peer-to-peer and the investment in our business will help us to continue to grow.”

Paul Clancy, manager of Halo, which is run on behalf of Invest NI and InterTradeIreland by Catalyst Inc, said: “We're delighted that the final investment of Halo NI EIS Fund has gone into Orca Money.

"The investment has been made following experienced investors such as TechStart NI and Alex Lee, leader of the NI Fintech Syndicate.

"With alternative finance to businesses expected to grow to over £13.6 billion by 2020, Orca Money’s platform will allow retail investors to make smarter decisions.”