A crowd-sourcing lender has lent £50 million of loans just two years after it was launched, it was announced today.

Peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle, who opened for business in August 2010, has to date funded businesses with £52.8 million through independent investors, of which £15 million was leant in the past three months.

The company is also set to expand with an addition to its Business Development team and, reportedly, plans to relocate its offices before the end of the year.

James Lovett, previously an Operations Manager at Close Business Finance, has joined the crowd-funder as a Business Development Manager, becoming part of the development team managed by Laura McMullen.

James spent three years at the asset funding firm, which provided finance for SMEs as part of specialist financial services group Close Brothers, before joining Funding Circle earlier this month.

In July, B&C reported that Funding Circle had forwarded loans from more than 15,000 investors to at least 850 businesses, hitting a total of £37 million worth of lending.

Since then, it has been dedicated to pioneering support for SMEs, distributing and publishing a Funding for Growth survey which highlighted concerns that small businesses had about the process of obtaining loans.

The lender’s findings revealed that SMEs had the potential to create more than 500,000 jobs, dubbed ‘caged tigers’, if they had access to sufficient funding.

Speaking about the firm’s recent successes, Laura McMullen, Head of Business Development at Funding Circle, said: “Our lending has really gathered pace over the last few months and it is a great achievement by all the team to pass the £50 million mark just after celebrating our second birthday.

“Clearly, businesses are recognising that Funding Circle provides an answer to the demand for accessible and flexible finance delivered easily and quickly. 

“I am also delighted to welcome James Lovett to the Business Development Team at this time of exciting growth. He brings with him significant experience and expertise of the financial intermediary market and will be key to continuing our growth with professional advisers at Funding Circle.”