Fund Thy Neighbor – P2P Lending in the Startup World

If you don’t already know, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending has grown tremendously with the growth of social sites, and the ever growing fact that people are becoming more and more connected via these technologies. P2P lending is known as, “the practice of lending money to individuals or businesses through online services that match lenders directly with borrowers.” (Wikipedia). With startup funding being a constant issue, P2P lending has found its way to the startup realm. The article, How Peer to Peer Lending is Financing Top Startups, discusses some of the positives about P2P lending and why it may be more beneficial than going to a bank for a traditional loan. The main reason discussed in this article was that many banks are looking for companies that are slightly more established and getting funded can be a difficult and almost impossible process for startups. Getting funded through P2P lending is close to borrowing money from a family or friend, just through a much larger network than those most people generally have available to them. Peer-to-peer funding is something that I think every business should look into, as it is a cheap and often effective way to find some of the funds for a business venture.