Funding Circle, a London-based small business lending platform, named Steve Allocca as its U.S. managing director, the company announced Thursday.
Allocca, who will report to CEO Lisa Jacobs, will play an important role in spearheading the company’s growth and expansion by serving more small businesses across the U.S., the company said.
“I am excited to begin the new year by joining Funding Circle, which has built a reputation over the last decade as a market leader in responsible lending practices, product innovation and attractive returns for investors,” Allocca said in a statement. “I am looking forward to working with the team to propel the U.S. business to new heights and help expand access to capital to more small businesses.”
Before joining Funding Circle, Allocca served as the chief operating officer at small-business banking provider BlueVine.
Previously, Allocca was among 460 employees let go when peer-to-peer lending fintech LendingClub cut 30% of its workforce after acquiring Radius Bank for $185 million in April 2020. He was instrumental in growing revenue, transforming the organization and expanding its product set.
Allocca joined LendingClub in 2017 after serving as vice president and general manager of PayPal. He launched and boosted small-business lending at PayPal, making it the credit firm’s fastest-growing and most valuable silo.
He also held a number of senior leadership positions at Wells Fargo.
“[Allocca] brings a wealth of fintech experience and is passionate about helping small businesses get the funding they need to win,” Jacobs said Thursday. “There is a huge opportunity in the U.S. market to serve more businesses than we do today.”
Funding Circle has originated $4.1 billion in loans to 40,000 small businesses nationwide since 2010 and $19.4 billion to 130,000 small businesses globally, according to Thursday’s statement.
Funding Circle expanded its core loan proposition in the U.S. to serve super-prime businesses and launched two lending-as-a-service (LaaS) partnerships with Pitney Bowes and DreamSpring, the statement said.
The platform tapped Greig McEwan as its chief technology officer in October. McEwan had served as CTO of the European freight forwarding platform sennder.
