LendUp is a San Francisco-based fintech that offers personal loans, gamified financial education and savings products for the emerging middle class. The company is splitting into two stand-alone businesses so each can grow with separate technology platforms and optimized capital structures. LendUp will continue to focus on personal loans, gamified education and savings, while its credit card business will be carved out as the newly created Mission Lane. Mission Lane will include the credit card business’s card portfolio, IP, technology platform and team and will be led by interim CEO Vijesh Iyer. The company named Anu Shultes as CEO of LendUp; Sasha Orloff will step down from day-to-day responsibilities but remain on LendUp’s board and serve as an advisor to Mission Lane. LendUp was co-founded by Sasha Orloff and Jake Rosenberg in 2012 after graduating Y Combinator’s winter 2012 class. Executive team members named include Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Jordan Olivier, Sunil Singh, Jotaka Eaddy and Pia Thompson. LendUp builds lending products aimed at the "emerging middle class," offering personal loans to customers that traditional financial institutions often avoid or charge high fees. The company says its mission is to help those customers get out of debt, save money and become more financially successful. LendUp is expanding its product roadmap into credit cards and other services as part of that mission. The startup recently received a strategic investment from PayPal and says the two companies share a vision around financial inclusion. To support growth the company has added and promoted several senior finance and compliance hires from banks and fintechs. Those additions include board advisor Carrie Dolan and promotions/hires such as Vijesh Iyer (COO), Mandeep Walia (chief compliance officer), Jordan Olivier (VP of Finance) and Karry Bryan (VP and controller). LendUp offers technology-enabled short-term loans and credit cards supported by embedded financial education and a focus on improving users' credit. Led by CEO and co-founder Sasha Orloff, the company originated more than 3.3 million loans and surpassed $1 billion in loan originations since its inception in 2012. Headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Richmond, VA, LendUp positions itself as a socially responsible alternative in the consumer credit market. The company has been backed by more than $325 million in equity and debt financing from a range of investors. LendUp plans to use new financing to fund future loan growth. Its product and growth metrics emphasize both scale of originations and a mission-driven approach to credit-building. LendUp builds consumer-finance products centered on the L Card, a credit card with no hidden fees, a flexible payback schedule, and a companion app that can halt charges and shows a financial health meter. The company says it is signing up thousands of accounts per month and reports revenue "growing consistently month on month." Founded in 2011, LendUp originally targeted the payday-loan market and retained customers by providing financial education before expanding into credit cards. Earlier this year it raised $100 million in debt to fund lending and previously closed a $50 million Series B. LendUp is building its entire tech stack in-house and plans to use new capital to scale the L Card and customer acquisition. Management emphasizes balancing the company’s mission of reducing predatory fees with financial solvency as it grows. LendUp offers the LendUp Ladder payday-loan alternative and the L Card credit product, designed to help underbanked consumers access credit and improve FICO scores. The platform uses machine learning and alternative data (public records, specialty bureaus, bank statements) to underwrite borrowers quickly and embeds financial education and incentives so on-time payers earn points and access cheaper credit. LendUp reported several hundred million dollars in loan volume last year and grew new customers by 36% in December; it is profitable on a per-loan basis but is reinvesting heavily into growth and engineering. The app includes features like instant card pause, purchase notifications, spending budgets, whitelists, parental controls and a visible 'credit health' bar to encourage responsible use. A study with TransUnion cited in the article shows LendUp users had a higher chance of increasing their credit scores than users of other online lenders or non-borrowers. The company had about 140 employees and planned to potentially double headcount by the end of 2016.

Total raised

$362M

Funding rounds

8

Latest round

Debt Financing

Latest activity

Mar 2017