Vouch, the US-based developer of a social network for credit, raised $6m in series A funding yesterday featuring IDG Ventures, a corporate venturing affiliate of media company International Data Group.
Core Innovation Capital, Data Collective, Stanford StartX Fund, Cooley, First Round Capital, Greylock Partners and AngelList also participated in the round.
Vouch’s service, launched in April this year, is an online platform that evaluates borrowers’ creditworthiness through their social network.
Borrowers need to send invitations to people they know who will act as sponsors. Each sponsor will receive an email asking about the relationship with the borrower before signing a document to repay the money if the borrower defaults on the loan.
The more people agree to vouch for a borrower, the more money they can secure, at a lower rate.
Vouch previously raised $3.6m from backers including IDG Ventures, First Round, Greylock and AngelList. The company plans to use the money to accelerate the expansion of its network.
Yes Lee, chief executive of Vouch said: “We are taking advantage of the unprecedented level of digital connectedness exhibited by modern borrowers to accomplish what the banking industry has never before been able to do at scale: incorporate a borrower’s social network into credit decisions.”