Samir Desai, co-founder and former CEO of Funding Circle, is stepping down from the board of the small business lender, distancing himself further from the company he helped build.
At the age of 41, Desai played a key role in establishing the peer-to-peer lending platform in 2010, together with Andrew Mullinger and James Meekings. He acted as CEO for 12 years before moving to a non-executive director role in 2022. However, he will completely step down from the board in a month’s time.
Desai’s departure signals the end of the involvement of all three original co-founders, marking a significant shift for Funding Circle. The company, once a star in Britain’s financial technology sector, has faced challenges since its 2018 flotation, where its shares dropped significantly from their 440p listing price. The business has struggled with profitability, making a profit in only one year since its IPO, and was further hit by the pandemic and regulatory pressures, leading it to close its peer-to-peer retail operations in 2022.
Following the departures of Meekings in 2019 and Mullinger in 2016, Desai has also exited the scene. Desai is currently focusing on his new project, Super Payments, but still holds a 4.9% stake in Funding Circle. In the meantime, the current CEO, Lisa Jacobs, is spearheading the attempts to steer the business back on track, eyeing profitability after a phase of job reductions and the sale of the company’s US branch.
Funding Circle is also on the hunt for a replacement for its long-serving chairman, Andrew Learoyd, who is set to step down by March 2024.
Funding Circle co-founder Samir Desai to leave board, marking end of an era (bmmagazine.co.uk)
