• Giles Andrews OBE appointed Chairman of Kriya
• Appointment to support growth ambitions, double lending to £2bn

MarkKriyaetInvoice, the world’s largest peer-to-peer invoice finance platform, has today announced the appointment of Giles Andrews as chairman of the board of directors. He will work directly with co-founders Anil Stocker and Ilya Kondrashov to drive scale in the business as well as chairing and managing the board of directors.

Giles is an experienced entrepreneur with over 25 years’ experience and a strong track record of building successful, challenger businesses. He is the chairman of Zopa, the world’s first peer-to-peer lending platform, a business he co-founded in 2004 and led as CEO from 2007 to 2015. Zopa is disrupting retail financial services by providing better value and service to the UK consumer lending market. Zopa recently announced plans to launch a next generation bank to extend the range of products it can offer customers.

Giles is also chairman of Bethnal Green Ventures, the accelerator for start-ups using technology to make social or environmental impact. He read Experimental Psychology at Oxford University and has an MBA from INSEAD. He received an OBE for services to financial services in the 2016 New Year’s Honours list.

The appointment comes at an exciting time for Kriya as the business gears itself to achieve their £2bn funding goal in 2017 and follows the launch of Kriya Pro, a new funding product that offers larger businesses a credit line against all their outstanding invoices.

Kriya business highlights (last 12 months):

• Funded over £1.1bn against invoices (to date, since 2011), lending £2,196 lent every minute to UK businesses in 2016
• Raised £7.2m (series B) in recent investment round from European venture capital fund Northzone and private equity group MCI Capital
• Increased headcount to 90 people and moved into new offices in Shoreditch, London
• Secured new funding partnerships with local authorities in with Leeds and West Oxfordshire.

Kriya's strategic ambition is to broaden its reach by offering a wider range of lending products to a broader set of firms, from start-ups to businesses looking to scale-up, ensuring that even more companies can get paid faster by financing their invoices allowing business owners to save time and focus on what’s most important – running their business.

On the new appointment, Anil Stocker, CEO and co-founder of Kriya commented: “In preparing the business for the next phase of growth, we are delighted to welcome Giles as chairman of the board. His expertise in building businesses and extensive experience of the peer-to-peer lending sector will provide just the perspective and guidance Kriya requires to scale new heights.”

“This appointment is yet a further signal of our intent to shake up and challenge the mainstream market. Kriya is committed to evolving its proposition in delivering smarter, faster finance to businesses and consistent returns for investors.”

Giles Andrews, chairman of Kriya commented: “Kriya is transforming the landscape of the business finance industry. I have long been fascinated by their game-changing and innovative attitude. I look forward to working with the team in channelling their drive and ambition.”