Upgrade, the US-based operator of an online consumer credit service, completed a $62m series C round yesterday led by online lending platform CreditEase through its CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund.
The company said all its major existing investors took part in the round and named Apoletto, FirstMark Capital, Noah Holdings, Ribbit Capital, Sands Capital Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, Union Square Ventures and Vy Capital as participants.
Founded in 2016, Upgrade has built an online platform intended to add the flexibility of credit cards to low-cost, fixed rate and monthly amortised personal loans. It also offers users credit monitoring and financial education through a feature called Credit Health.
The round valued Upgrade at $500m, a person familiar with the deal told the Financial Times, and the startup said it has now raised $142m altogether. It will put the series C funds toward product development.
The company emerged from stealth in April 2017 with $60m of funding from the same investors, as well as venture capital fund Uprising, but did not reveal the source of the other $20m.
Renaud Laplanche, Upgrade’s co-founder and CEO, had previously founded LendingClub, the online credit marketplace that floated in a 2014 initial public offering that closed at approximately $1bn.
Laplanche said: “The new capital will enable continued investments in product, credit analytics, compliance, risk management and expansion of our San Francisco, Phoenix, Montreal and Chicago offices.
“We are seeing a growing desire from consumers to better understand their overall credit situation and to learn to make great financial decisions that give them access to more affordable credit. This encourages us to keep building responsible consumer credit products that fit these trends.”