SoFi, the US-based online finance platform developer backed by telecommunications firm SoftBank and social media company Renren, completed a $500m funding round led by the state-owned Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) yesterday.
The funding was raised at a $4.3bn pre-money valuation, the same valuation as the company’s last round, and QIA was joined by undisclosed existing investors and SoFi’s chief executive, Anthony Noto.
SoFi’s core business is an online platform with 7.5 million registered users that incorporates a student loan refinancing service in addition to offering consumer loans and mortgages.
In recent months the company has recently added a range of features including an investment platform called SoFi Invest and a digital banking account dubbed SoFi Money, and moved into offering private student loans to undergraduates.
Noto said: “Over the last year, we have worked aggressively to grow SoFi from a desktop lending business to a broad-based, mobile-first financial platform enabling members to borrow, save, spend, invest and protect their money.”
The round brought the company’s overall funding to $2.4bn, $500m of which was secured in a late 2017 series F round led by private equity firm Silver Lake that also featured SoftBank and asset manager GPI Capital.
SoftBank led a $1bn series E round for SoFi in 2015 that included Renren, Wellington Management Company, IVP, Baseline Ventures, DCM Ventures and Third Point Ventures that valued it at $4bn, before Renren added $150m shortly afterwards.
The company had received $200m in series D funding from Third Point, Wellington Management and IVP earlier the same year. Renren had joined DCM, Wicklow Capital, Peter Thiel and existing backers including Baseline Ventures to invest $80m in 2014.
Renren had invested $49m in SoFi’s $77.2m series B round in 2012, participating together with Baseline Ventures and DCM.
