Upstart Holdings
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | April 2012 |
| Founder | Dave Girouard, Paul Gu, Anna Counselman |
| Headquarters | San Mateo, California , United States |
| Products | Consumer loans |
| Website | www |
Upstart is a lending platform powered by artificial intelligence that collaborates with banks and credit unions to provide consumer loans by analyzing unconventional indicators such as education and employment to determine credit risk.
The company was established by Dave Girouard, who previously served as President of Enterprise at Google; Paul Gu, a recipient of the Thiel Fellowship; and Anna Counselman, formerly the Manager of Global Enterprise Customer Programs at Google. Upstart began operations in April 2012 with an Income Share Agreement (ISA) product, which allowed individuals to secure funding by agreeing to share a portion of their future earnings. By May 2014, the firm transitioned into a personal loan marketplace, initially offering loans with three-year terms before extending options to include five-year durations.
Upstart’s credit evaluation system combines standard factors—such as FICO scores, credit history, and income—with educational metrics including institutions attended, majors, GPA, standardized test results, and employment background. This data-driven methodology improves the accuracy in forecasting a borrower's ability and likelihood to repay loans.
The startup raised $1.75 million in seed capital from investors like First Round Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, New Enterprise Associates, Google Ventures, Crunchfund, and Mark Cuban. Following this, it secured $5.9 million in a Series A round featuring backers such as Eric Schmidt (Google Executive Chairman), Marc Benioff, Khosla Ventures, Correlation Ventures, Founders Fund, and Collaborative Fund; $35 million in Series C funding led by Third Point Capital in 2015; $32.5 million from Rakuten in 2017; and a $50 million Series D round spearheaded by The Progressive Corporation in 2019.
In late 2020, Upstart completed its initial public offering, marking a pivotal step in scaling its AI-driven lending operations.
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External links
- Articles with short description
- American companies established in 2012
- Financial services companies established in 2012
- Companies listed on the Nasdaq
- Peer-to-peer lending companies
- Financial services companies based in California
- Online marketplaces of the United States
- Companies based in San Mateo, California
- 2012 establishments in California
- 2020 initial public offerings