Since 2013 researchers at the University of Cambridge have been tracking and analysing the development of the online alternative fnance market in the United Kingdom.  Entrenching Innovation: The 4th UK Alternative Finance Industry Report is the fourth annual industry study, which includes data collected from 77 alternative fnance platforms, as well as over 8,300 retail investors within the UK. 

Their data revealed that the UK online alternative fnance market grew from the £3.2 billion in 2015 to £4.6 billion in 2016, representing an annual growth of 43 percent. Over the six years between 2011 and 2016, a total of £11 billion worth of market volume has been facilitated through online alternative fnance channels in the UK.

In 2016, business funding transacted for start-ups and SMEs grew by 50 percent, from £2.2 billion to £3.3billion. In total, it is estimated that 33,000 frms utilised various debt, equity or noninvestment based (e.g. reward-based crowdfunding) alternative fnance channels and instruments to raise funding, which represents around 2.5 percent of the UK’s 1.3 million employers. The annual British Banking Association data implies that peerto-peer business lending platforms are now facilitating the equivalent of 6.56 percent of all new loans lent to SMEs, or 15% of all new loans lent to small businesses (i.e. micro-enterprises) by all UK banks.