Funding Circle hires Bruno Tavares as new VP of engineering

SME-focused peer-to-peer (P2P) lending firm Funding Circle has appointed Bruno Tavares as its new VP of engineering.

Funding Circle appoints Bruno Tavares as VP of engineering

Tavares has more than 20 years worth of experience growing teams and scaling products across technology and engineering.

Speaking on his appointment, Tavares says he is “impressed” with Funding Circle’s journey so far, adding the team has built “a technology platform that has allowed more than 120,000 SMEs access to fast, simple finance”.

The new hire joins the company as it continues to release new products and services for SMEs, having recently rolled out a short-term finance solution – FlexiPay – and an embedded finance solution.

Funding Circle chief technology officer Swati Lay says Tavares’ experience will assist the firm as it looks to “expand the set of products that we offer to small businesses” and deliver on its 2024 plan.

Founded in 2010, the technology and distribution platform has lent around £14 billion to approximately 120,000 businesses globally.

Earlier this year, Samir Desai, the founder and ex-CEO of Funding Circle, raised $30 million from investors including Accel Partners, Local Globe and Union Square Ventures for a new payments start-up at a pre-money valuation of $60 million, according to a Sky News report.