As it positions itself for further growth, LendUp has raised $150 million in a combination of Series B round financing and an expanded credit facility.
The round will allow for the expansion of LendUp's team and platform. Led by Susa Ventures and Data Collective, the round included participation from almost all of the company's major investors including Google Ventures, QED, Kapor Capital, Yuri Milner, SV Angel, Eagle Cliff, Bronze Investments and Victory Park Capital. In addition, Victory Park also provided a second credit facility to support new product growth.
"Over the last two years we've been growing rapidly by increasing the number of U.S. states where LendUp loans are available," CEO Sasha Orloff said. "With this latest round of funding, we're expanding the platform to include national products that allow us to solve new challenges and meet the needs of more customers."
The San Francisco-based financial technology company launched in 2012 to design safe, transparent credit products, available online or through a mobile phone, for the millions of Americans unable to obtain credit from traditional banks. LendUp followed the success of its payday loan alternative, the LendUp Ladder (currently available in 23 states), with the roll-out of its financial education courses.
In 2015, the L Card, a credit card business, launched in beta. Research indicates that although more than half of the U.S. market is considered subprime and millions of Americans are credit invisible, many banks are unprepared for the changes in this large and important market and cannot meet the needs of consumers.
"The L Card brings best-in-class technology to a customer group that's often overlooked. It's the next phase of our business plan of creating innovative, transparent financial products for consumers with limited options," explained Orloff. "We've proven our approach works, and know there's a huge demand, so we're looking forward to our Series B helping us reach our next stage of growth."
"We currently have over 130 employees, up from just 40 at the end of 2014, and it's entirely possible we'll double our staff by the end of 2016," added Hector Selberis, LendUp's Head of Talent. "This raise allows us to continue our rapid growth by hiring even smarter, mission-aligned people who want to make a positive impact on the world while solving complex finance and software problems."