Launched in the UK in 2008 and in the US in 2012, borro offers personal asset loans of up to £1m secured against high end personal assets including fine art, antiques, jewellery, luxury watches, prestige and classic cars and fine wine.
Paul Aitken, founder and CEO of borro, said: “It is a huge achievement for us at borro to have lent £50m.
“In an economic climate where loans from traditional sources are few and far between, it is no surprise that we have achieved this landmark level of funded loans as people have had to turn their backs on the banks and go elsewhere.
“The last 12 months in particular have been especially exciting for the business and we look forward to further developments across our offering.”
With an average loan value of £7,000, borro has made almost 20,000 personal asset loans to date with the largest loan being £1m against a collection of fine art.
borro has also seen a huge demand for its services from the self-employed and small and medium sized business owners who combined currently represent 52% of its loan book. For these customers the average loan value increases to £24,000.
Aitken said: “We are seeing clients using high value assets such as luxury cars, fine art, diamonds, jewellery and even vintage wine collections to unlock finance.
“People are turning to alternative sources of lending for a variety of reasons; most of our customers are looking to facilitate business transactions and opportunities while others come to us to fund surveys and pay other fees relating to property refinancing.
“Other reasons include supporting an irregular income, funding holidays and school fees, and helping to pay tax bills and other unexpected expenses. borro provides a solution for those looking to raise finance, by releasing the equity held in their personal assets.”
