US-based online savings startup Puddle has raised $2m in seed funding from investors including Google Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of diversified internet company Google, Fast Company has reported.
Venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Draper Associates also contributed funding for the startup, which is launching its service this week.
Founded in 2012, Puddle operates an online savings club that enables its members to borrow money from each other. Once members join one of Puddle’s Trust Networks, they can borrow up to five times what they have contributed.
Lenders do not make a profit from the service, but have available funds should they need to borrow money in future. Depending on the size of individual networks, the company expects members to borrow amounts in the small-to-medium three figures.