P2P lending company Prosper brought in $165 million in Series D financing yesterday. This doubles the company’s valuation to $1.9 billion, and classifies it as a fintech unicorn—a private company worth more than $1 billion.
The investment was led by Credit Suisse NEXT. Investors also include financial institutions and venture capital firms:
- USAA
- SunTrust Bank
- J.P. Morgan Asset Management
- BBVA
- Neuberger Berman Private Equity Funds
- Passport Capital
- Breyer Capital
Founded in 2006, Prosper raised its first round of funding in 2005 to the tune of $7.5 million. Prior to this week’s installment, the company’s funding totaled $190 million; the San Francisco-based company’s funding now totals $355 million.
Three of the financial institutions that furnished the financing, USAA, BBVA, and SunTrust, are in talks with Prosper to co-brand loans for their customers. The company’s competitor, Lending Club, has been co-branding loans with Union Bank since May 2014 and with Bank Alliance community bank members since February 2015.
Prosper facilitated $1.6 billion in loan origination in 2014. This is four times what it did the year prior and more than half of its total $3 billion since launching in 2006.
Prosper plans to use the funding to expand beyond debt consolidation loans into healthcare lending.
Competitor Lending Club went public last December with an IPO that initially valued it around $8 billion. Its current market cap is $6.9 billion. Lending Club has issued $7.6 billion in consumer loans since launching in 2006.
While both companies are similar, Prosper is working hard to differentiate itself. The company, which offers unsecured consumer loans ranging from $2,000 to $35,000, states it has no intent to enter small-business lending. Meanwhile, competitor Lending Club launched its small-business segment, which enables companies to borrow up to $300,000, in March of 2014. According to American Banker, instead of extending financing to small businesses, Prosper plans to focus on finding a partner to help it expand into South America or Asia.
Prosper last demonstrated at FinovateSpring 2009 in San Francisco.