US-based online lending platform Social Finance (SoFi) is set to raise roughly $500m in a funding round featuring telecom group and existing investor SoftBank, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
Private equity firm Silver Lake Partners is expected to lead the round, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. It will be joined by venture capital firm DCM Ventures, investment adviser Third Point and undisclosed Asian investors.
SoFi operates a range of online lending services covering its core market of student loan refinancing as well as mortgages, personal loans, wealth management and life insurance.
The company acquired mobile banking platform Zenbanx earlier this month for about $100m and will use its technology to launch a bank account offering that will feature services such as checking and credit cards.
The round could potentially close as early as this week and is set to value SoFi at $4.3bn, according to one source. Bloomberg had initially reported in September 2016 that SoFi had begun talks with investors for a $500m round.
SoFi has raised a total of approximately $1.57bn, SoftBank having participated in a $1bn series E round in late 2015 that included DCM and Third Point’s venture capital arm, Third Point Ventures, as well as Wellington Management Company, Institutional Venture Partners and Baseline Ventures.
Other SoFi investors include social media and financial technology group Renren, which originally invested in its $77m series B round in 2012 before adding $150m in post-series E funding, as well as VC firm Wicklow Capital and private investor Peter Thiel.