Funding Circle has signalled its intent to move into the property finance space, with the hire of Luke Jooste, formerly commercial director at Barclays Business.

The online marketplace for business loans has so far seen more than £170 million of loans lent to over 3,000 small businesses across the UK, with over £100 million lent in 2013 so far.

This follows the recent news that Funding Circle raised $37million last month and launched in the US. Accel Partners led the series C investment and new investor Ribbit Capital joined early backers, Union Square Ventures and Index Ventures. In total Funding Circle has now raised $58 million in equity funding to fuel future growth.

Jooste has 15 years of experience in property finance. Prior to joining Funding Circle, Luke oversaw the commercial performance of Barclays Business as its commercial director, of which property is a major asset component.

He also held positions as UK head of real estate finance at Barclays Business and associate credit director (real estate) at Barclays Corporate.

Before his move to London in 2008, Jooste worked in mortgage loans at First National Bank and as head of risk at the Bank of China, both in South Africa.

Samir Desai, CEO and co-founder of Funding Circle said: “Given the pent up demand, particularly by small and medium sized developers, we think there is a real opportunity in the market and plan to be a significant player going forward.”

Jooste added: “As a peer-to-peer lender, Funding Circle doesn’t have the legacy in real estate finance that the banks do. I believe this gives us a real advantage and look forward to enhancing lending opportunities for UK investors.”