Samir Desai

Samir founded Funding Circle and launched the business in 2010. He was CEO until the end of 2021 when he stepped down and transitioned to a Non-Executive role on the Board. In 2015, Samir was awarded a CBE for services to financial services. Prior to Funding Circle, Samir was a consultant at BCG and an investment executive at Olivant focused on financial services businesses. Funding Circle is a global lending platform where investors lend directly to small businesses in the UK, US, Germany, and the Netherlands. Funding Circle has originated £13.1 billion+ of loans to 118,000+ businesses creating an estimated 135,000 jobs. Investors on the platform include institutional investors, local councils, and government organizations including the British Business Bank, KFW (German state development bank), and the European Investment Bank. Funding Circle is one of the best capitalized platforms globally and was listed on the London Stock Exchange (Ticker: FCH) in October 2018.