In the month of January it is customary for people to reflect on the past year and to think about what they expect to happen in 2022. Here Dr. Thomas Schneider, Co-Founder of FinLoop, looks back at 2021 and what will be in store in this coming year
Q: Thomas, what were the market challenges for you and/or Finloop in 2021?
TS: As a newcomer in the FinTech and PropTech sector, the main challenge for FinLoop was to scale up and gain a sufficient level of traction that works for borrowers and lenders, leading to a snowball effect. This has been very successful, and we now have 1,700+ borrowers and 1,300+ lenders across Europe in all shapes and sizes. Another challenge was to make clear to borrowers and lenders that FinLoop is B2B and not a peer-to-peer lending platform or anything like other so-called “platforms”. One real benefit was that the Covid Crisis forced companies to re-evaluate how they do business and adapted their business to the “new normal”. This made them significantly more willing to try out new solutions and avenues to communicate and interact with their peers in a digital environment.
Q: Thomas, what were the successes for you and or FinLoop in 2021?
TS: Without a doubt this was the successful closing of our first white label deal with the largest Dutch RE Debt Advisor Adelaer who are planning to run their full business via our software from March 2022.A close second is that in our first year close to €5 billion of financing requests were run via our software whilst over 1,500 lenders decided to originate loans via the FinLoop marketplace.
Q: What do you expect to be the greatest challenges be in 2022 for you and/or Finloop?
TS: The main challenges for this coming year will be the development of two innovations in the digital RE debt space. In Q1 we are aiming to launch a new Loan Management System which we are currently developing this with Adelaer. Another market first is our planned Debt Syndication Module, which would significantly improve transparency in the secondary market and provide lenders with more business options. An easy win, however, is likely to be that lenders are likely to be more restrictive in what they lend on and to whom in 2022. This will make the wider marketplace that Finloop’s platform offers extra attractive as borrowers will need to speak to more lenders to find suitable terms.
Q: What is the one thing you hope to achieve in 2022 for you and or Finloop?
TS: Our main goal for 2022 is to increase the amount of value which we can add for our borrowers, lenders and brokers further yet by continuing to increase market efficiency and transparency. The future of FinLoop will in my view mainly depend on the value-differential we offer market participants. This is what we passionately focus on.