Santander InnoVentures, the strategic investment subsidiary of financial services firm Santander, has led a $40m series D round for US-based consumer credit provider Upgrade.
Ribbit Capital, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Uncorrelated Ventures, Union Square Ventures (USV), Ventura Capital and Vy Capital also contributed to the round, which the company told TechCrunch valued it at about $1bn.
Upgrade operates an online credit banking service that provides affordable loans and credit cards which are amortised on a monthly basis.
The company has provided $3bn of credit to a total of about 10 million customers, and its Credit Health platform offers financial advice and helps users monitor their credit scores.
The funding will be used to improve Upgrade’s low-cost credit card product, Upgrade Card, and support the launch of a consumer-focused mobile banking service dubbed Upgrade Account. Santander InnoVentures senior adviser Chris Gottschalk has joined its board of directors.
Gottschalk said: “We are excited to support Upgrade in their next stage of growth. Upgrade is building a neobank with credit at its heart, which we believe is a smart strategy as credit represents 70% of banking revenue globally and is often the main reason customers seek banking services.”
The company said its overall funding stands at $200m, including $60m in debt and series A equity financing from financial services provider Noah Holdings, online lender CreditEase, USV, Ribbit Capital, Vy Capital, SVB, Apoletto, FirstMark Capital, Sands Capital Ventures and Uprising in 2017.
CreditEase’s Fintech Investment Fund led Upgrade’s $62m series C round in August 2018, participating with financial services firm Noah Holdings, Apoletto, USV, FirstMark Capital, Ribbit Capital, Sands Capital Ventures, SVB and Vy Capital.
Upgrade has not revealed details of its series B financing but it raised the series C funding at a valuation of about $500m.
