Funding Circle co-founder to step down from lender’s board

Samir Desai, the co-founder and former chief executive of small business lender Funding Circle, has said he will step down from the company’s board next month.

Desai, who established the firm in 2010, said he would step down on 25 October after the end of his three-year term as a non-executive director.

He took on that role after ending his tenure as chief executive in 2021, being succeeded by Lisa Jacobs. Desai said he would remain a shareholder in the company.

“As I come to the end of my three-year term, I am completing the transition and stepping down from the board,” Desai said.

“I am very supportive of the strategic changes Lisa and the team have made and am excited about Funding Circle’s future. I look forward to continuing to support the company as a shareholder and its biggest fan.”

Desai was awarded a CBE in 2016 for his work in financial services.

London-based Funding Circle set out plans in March to reduce costs and focus on its home market after losses widened to £33.2m in 2023. The firm is targeting roughly £15m in annualised cost savings in 2025.

As part of these efforts, Funding Circle said in May that it expected to cut around 120 jobs. In July, it completed the sale of its loss-making US arm to Florida-based iBusiness Funding for £33m.

Funding Circle’s shares soared as much as 24 per cent earlier this month after it swung to an unexpected profit in its results for the first half of 2024 and upgraded its guidance for the full year.

Still, the fintech’s shares are down 71 per cent since it floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2018.

On Wednesday, Funding Circle’s chair Andrew Learoyd said: “Samir has been instrumental in building Funding Circle into the highly innovative business it is today, helping thousands of small businesses get the funding they need to win.

“We wish him well for the future.”