Borro is an international online platform offering loans secured against luxury assets such as fine art, antiques, jewelry, luxury watches, fine wine, and prestige and classic cars. It offers loans ranging from $5,000 to $10,000,000. The company was launched in 2008 and is led by CEO John Allbrook. Borro is based in London and has opened offices in New York and Los Angeles. Prior to the transaction, Victory Park Capital provided a credit facility in February 2014 to support Borro’s loan portfolio. Victory Park Capital will expand its involvement to include working capital financing and provide strategic and operational support. Borro operates an online lending platform that offers loans from $5,000 to $2,000,000 secured against luxury assets such as fine art, antiques, jewelry, luxury watches, fine wine, and prestige and classic cars. The company launched in the UK in 2009 and expanded to the U.S. in 2012, with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Since inception it has extended close to $200 million in luxury asset-backed loans. Borro says it will use new funding to continue growth across the U.S. and the U.K. Financially, the company has raised capital in multiple transactions, including a $112m debt raise from Victory Park Capital in 2014 and the most recent $19.5m funding round, bringing total capital raised to over $200m. Borro operates an online pawnshop platform that provides short-term loans secured by luxury watches, art, jewellery, cars, fine wine and other high-value items. Initial applications are made online, after which Borro’s network of object experts and logistics teams evaluate and collect items in person, typically lending around 65%–70% of an item’s value. Loan terms are short: items are usually kept about six months, average interest runs roughly 3.5%–4%, and items not reclaimed after about ten months may be sold via dealers or auction; excess sale proceeds above the consigned value are returned to customers. The company has seen strong growth: it lent about $50M in 2013 and expects to lend $100M this year, with revenues rising from $17M last year to just over $30M this year. Borro has increased average loan size (now about $12,000) and is seeing more $50,000-plus opportunities. The firm plans to use new capital to expand its available finance pool, scale localized U.S. operations (beyond its London and New York offices) and pursue partnerships with e-commerce platforms and other sales conduits. Borro operates an online collateral-loan service that appraises customers’ high-value personal assets via experts and issues secured loans—often up to $1 million. The platform targets an upscale market, with an average loan size around $8,000. Borrowers receive interest rates reported between 2.99% and 3.99% and typically have a six-month repayment period (extensions available). If a borrower defaults, Borro sells the collateral and returns any excess above the loan plus interest. The company emphasizes liquidity for owners of valuable goods who need cash without selling their assets. Recent funding is intended to support expansion in the U.S. and UK and to add new product features. Borro provides short-term loans ranging from £100 to £1m secured on high-value personal assets such as watches, jewellery, antiques and artwork. Valuations are performed by an expert valuations team based in London. The company is led by CEO Paul Aitken and serves a retail customer base seeking short-term liquidity against possessions. Proceeds from its recent financing are intended to fund Borro’s loan book and allow the company to continue servicing its customers. Borro’s equity backers include Eden Ventures and Augmentum Capital. Earlier related raises include a £10M round reported in March 2010 and a venture capital financing reported in March 2011.

Total raised

$185M

Funding rounds

7

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Feb 2015