At FinovateSpring last week, we witnessed the popularity of alternative lending platforms as shown through Dealstruck, LendingRobot, and Venovate.

Further underlining this trend, two players in the alternative lending space, Kabbage and Prosper, both announced funding today.

Kabbage plans to use the funding to boost its marketing efforts, build out its partnerships, and expand further internationally. It also has plans to better leverage big data for underwriting purposes.

Prosper, a P2P funding platform based in San Francisco.

• Funding: $70 million.
  $50 million of this will be allocated to Prosper’s balance sheet. The remaining $20 million is a secondary round in which some shareholders are cashing out.
• Previous funding totals $190 million
• Contributing investors include: 
• Francisco Partners
• Institutional Venture Partners
• Phenomen Ventures
• Founded: 2006
• Demoed at Finovate 2007

Last month, Prosper announced $1 billion in total loans originated on its platform and it plans to reach $2 billion in total loans this year.

It is speculated that this new round places Prosper at a $600 million valuation, up from a $100 million valuation around eight months ago.