Zopa Ltd. of London, which operates a peer-to-peer lending Web site, has hired a new chief executive and is planning to launch a version of its site in the United States this year.
The company said Monday that its new global CEO is Douglas H. Dolton, previously the CEO of Chela Education Financing of San Francisco.
Zopa's co-founder and first CEO, Richard Duvall, died of pancreatic cancer in October. James Alexander, originally Zopa's chief financial officer, remains the CEO of its U.K. operation.
Zopa unveiled the lending site, zopa.com, in March 2005, and promised at the time to bring its model to the United States. Prosper Marketplace Inc. of San Francisco went live in February 2006. Both Prosper and Zopa enable consumers to borrow money from one another. Zopa has occasionally mentioned a San Francisco team on its site in the past year; this month it posted a job listing for a financial systems developer who would work in San Francisco to help create a version of its site for the U.S. market.
Zopa said Monday that it has secured a $12.9 million investment from its venture backers, led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Also on Monday, Prosper announced it has hired two executives: Kirk Inglis as its chief financial officer and Robert Klapper as its chief marketing officer.
Mr. Inglis was previously a consultant to Wells Fargo & Co., and before that worked for nine years at Providian Financial Corp.
Mr. Klapper has held marketing jobs at Charles Schwab Corp. and Colgate-Palmolive Co.
