German-born Martin Kissinger earned an economics degree from the LSE and a research master's from Oxford, then worked at venture capital firms including Accel Partners before joining Rocket Internet, where he launched the incubator's first fintech venture, Lendico. It was the perfect CV to start Lendable in 2014, aged 25, with the ambition to make accessing credit fairer and faster.

Kissinger’s silver bullet has been AI. The Lendable algorithm connects consumers seeking credit directly with institutional investors, using machine learning and automated underwriting to price and approve loans faster than traditional lenders. Having originated more than £10bn in consumer credit since launch, the company has since expanded into credit cards and car finance. Plus, it’s pushed into the US and Mexico, reporting an annual profit increase of 120 per cent in 2025.

As CEO, Kissinger has had to raise substantial capital to fund that expansion: a £210m round in March 2022 solidified Lendable as one of the UK's few fintech unicorns. In July 2026, the company was also reported to have raised £500m in debt financing to fund its next stage of lending.

Kissinger originally set out to prove that an AI-led lender can out-compete incumbent banks on speed, transparency and pricing. The result? A fintech scale-up that became profitable in just three years – not just lendable then, but dependable as well.