Case Study: Funding Circle achieves real-time, high-quality SME underwriting with RStudio's Shiny

Funding Circle - Customer Case Study

Funding Circle is a marketplace lender focused exclusively on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), having facilitated over £600m in loans to more than 10,000 businesses by connecting borrowers with a diversified pool of investors. The company set out to solve a persistent market problem: traditional banks have underserved SMEs and been reluctant to accurately price SME credit risk, especially during economic downturns.

Funding Circle implemented a hybrid underwriting model that combines machine‑learning statistical models with manual, judgmental review, using RStudio and Shiny to create interactive, real‑time feedback loops between data scientists and underwriters. This approach lets underwriters update model inputs, apply experience-based adjustments, and continuously improve decision processes, producing high‑quality underwriting, broad investor trust, and measurable lending growth that supports jobs and economic activity.

Funding Circle

Marina Theodosiou

Risk Analytics Manager