I don't get why Wonga specifically is so respected among VCs. Isn't there tons of these kind of companies around? It's the old good business model of usury.
In Finland we have tens of companies offering short term cash loans based on text messages. I know few of these guys. If well-executed, these companies are money making machines, but they have very little of moat. You can enter this industry easily, if you have enough cash for initial advertising.
I was going to write a serious response to this post, then I looked up Wonga realized how poorly thought out and absurd this list was. In fact, we have several of these loan companies that are publicly traded here in the US. Here are their symbols:
They have presences in USA, but have exploded in the UK because the Usury laws are less restrictive.
http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-are-payday-loa... And that evenings Channel 4 news piece where the industry spokesman talks about it.