The funding round was led by Equity Gap and included a number of Scottish private investors and the Scottish Investment Bank.

The company also announced that it intends to secure Series A funding over the next 12 months.

LendingCrowd agreed £16m worth of loan deals with SMEs across Britain in the last year and plans to more than double its lending in 2018 to around £40m.

Stuart Lunn, co-founder and CEO at  LendingCrowd (pictured above), said: “Having laid solid foundations for the business over the last couple of years, we now have a position in the market that is starting to pay dividends.

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“We have a strong pipeline of both investors and SME demand, and with such a strong trajectory, we are now actively speaking to the venture capital and private equity communities about our next phase of growth.”  

Over 4,500 investors have signed up to the platform since launch, and 82% of LendingCrowd growth Isa investors have beaten the advertised 6% target return 12 months after opening.

Jock Millican from Equity Gap added: “We are extremely pleased that our syndicate members once again backed LendingCrowd, with this raise being the largest single investment by Equity Gap to date.

“Existing and new investors in LendingCrowd recognise the progress to date and the potential for the business to scale.”