Victory Park Capital Partners with Upstart
Press Release
Aug 19, 2014
Victory Park Capital to partner with Upstart to help lending platform expand into new markets
Victory Park Capital (VPC), an asset management firm focused on middle-market debt and equity investments, today announced that it will invest $100 million in Upstart loans over the next two years. Based in Palo Alto, Calif. Upstart is a lending platform that goes beyond the FICO score to finance people based on signals of their potential, including schools attended, area of study, academic performance, and work history.
“Based on Upstart’s successful launch, innovative management team, and our experience in the specialty finance industry, we believe Upstart is well positioned for success as the platform scales over time,” said Tom Welch of VPC. “We are excited to partner with the Upstart team and are confident they will succeed in a market that continues to be underserved by traditional providers of consumer credit.”
Upstart is committed to providing fairly priced loans to quality borrowers who may not have the ability to secure a loan from a traditional lender. Since inception earlier this year, more than 500 Upstart loans, totaling more than $7.5 million have been originated. Upstart currently receives more than 1,000 loan applications daily and while historical data remains limited, Upstart has yet to experience a delinquent payment.
Dave Girouard, founder and CEO of Upstart, added, “We are excited to announce this partnership with a team as experienced in this sector as VPC. This lending facility will go toward serving the continued need for capital by our customers, as well as allow us to expand our product into new markets for individuals that lack the credit score needed to receive a loan from conventional sources.”
About Victory Park Capital
Victory Park Capital Advisors, LLC (“VPC”) is a privately held, SEC-registered, global alternative investment firm. VPC provides opportunistic capital solutions to both emerging and established businesses with an expertise investing across various sectors where traditional sources of capital are limited. The firm’s differentiated offerings leverage an extensive network of industry relationships, disciplined deal origination, creative financing capabilities and broad credit structuring and special situations expertise. The firm was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. For more information, please visit www.victoryparkcapital.com.
About Upstart
Founded by ex-Googlers, Upstart goes beyond the FICO score to finance people based on signals of their potential, including schools attended, area of study, academic performance, and work history. Upstart’s proprietary underwriting model identifies high quality borrowers despite limited credit and employment experience. Upstart loans can be used for almost anything, including starting a business, paying for a coding bootcamp, eliminating student debt or paying off credit cards. For more information, visit: https://www.upstart.com/.