Peer-to-peer lending platform Linked Finance has named Niall O'Grady as its new chief executive.
Niall O'Grady takes over from Niall Dorrian who has stepped down after five years in the top job at the company. Mr Dorrian will remain as a non-executive director of Linked Finance.
Mr O'Grady was most recently Managing Director of 123.ie and Director of Distribution of RSA. Before that he was with Permanent TSB as commercial director.
Niall O'Grady said that he wants to grow the business and support Irish SMEs through the current challenges they face.
"Talking to customers this week, I can see a clear need for the speed and simplicity of our finance offering," the new CEO said.
"It has been great to join a business just as we start to offer the Government's Covid-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme to our customers. We have seen record levels of interest and we are able to move very quickly to fund great Irish businesses under this important scheme," he added.
Since becoming the first non-bank lender under the Government's Covid-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme at the beginning of January, Linked Finance has already funded over €3m worth of loans to SME customers.
Linked Finance can provide a credit decision on unsecured loans of up to €250,000 in under 24 hours from receiving an application.
Since it was set up in 2013, Linked Finance has given out over €143m in loans to thousands of Irish businesses.
Companies that have been supported by Linked Finance loans include Lolly & Cooks, Murphy's Ice Cream, Iconic Offices and the Irish Fairy Door Company.
