ICE BREAKER: MARKETLEND’S CEO ON HIS MISSION TO RELEASE SMES FROM THE ‘STRANGLEHOLD’ OF BANKS

After spending decades working in the ‘big end of town’, Sydney barrister Leo Tyndall turned his efforts to the ‘smaller end’, eager to help promising SMEs deprived of finance by traditional lenders.  

In the four years since he founded MarketLend – an online lending platform inspired by international peer-to-peer (P2P) offerings – Tyndall (CEO) and his team of finance industry veterans have helped fund nearly $35 million in secured loans for Australian SMES with an annual turnover between $1 million and $20 million.

Tyndall spoke to Dynamic Business about giving SMEs a ‘fighting chance’ by connecting them directly with investors, why it would be inaccurate to call MarketLend a P2P lender, the importance of ‘putting skin in the game’ and how he plans to grow the formerly-bootstrapped fintech company.                                   

DB: How is MarketLend helping SMEs access finance?

Tyndall: MarketLend provides SMEs with access to simple and flexible business finance to fuel growth and bridge liquidity gaps, ensuring they can continue to thrive. We do this by ‘breaking the ice’ between SMEs and institutional and sophisticated investors who are seeking quality investments with robust returns. Read more

James Harkness - Dynamic Business - 22 Feb 2018