• Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • About LendIt Fintech News
  • Home
  • Menu Item
  • Menu Item
  • Menu Item
  • Menu Item

Lend Academy

LendIt Fintech News: Daily Coverage of Fintech & Online Lending


  • Editorial
  • Daily News
  • Podcast
  • Investor Forum
  • Events

Lending Club Receives $15 Million in Funding From Kleiner Perkins

June 6, 2012 By Peter Renton 8 Comments

Views: 933

There is probably no bigger name in venture capital than Kleiner Perkins (officially known as Kleiner Perkins Caulfield Byers or KPCB). They are one of the stalwarts of Silicon Valley having invested in such household names as Amazon, Google, Compaq, Groupon and AOL. Now, they have added Lending Club to that list of companies.

Today, Lending Club announced (press release is here) a $15 million equity investment from Kleiner Perkins. At the same time Kleiner Perkins partner Mary Meeker has been appointed to the board of Lending Club. Along with John Mack’s recent $2.5 million investment this brings the total capital raised by Lending Club to $100 million. More importantly it brings the total cash on the balance sheet to around $45 million.

Here is what Mary Meeker had to say about Lending Club in an official statement:

“Lending Club is helping reinvent the consumer lending industry. It’s the kind of opportunity that Kleiner Perkins is interested in and I knew I wanted to be involved.”

There is no word yet on what valuation this gives Lending Club but it is safe to say it is at least the $275 million valuation that was achieved with the Series D funding round last summer. We will get a pretty good idea when they file their 8-K form with the SEC shortly.

Obviously this is good news for Lending Club and for p2p lending in general. The team at Kleiner Perkins have identified and invested in many companies that have brought quantum shifts in the business landscape. I was told that Kleiner Perkins approached Lending Club directly even though they were not looking for new investors. No other investors were invited to participate in this round.

Here is what Lending Club said when I asked them about this new investment:

While we didn’t need the funds, we were presented with the opportunity to bring on KPBC as a partner and to welcome Mary Meeker to our board. We jumped at the chance of being associated with a firm and a partner that is virtually synonymous with the breakthrough brands we love like Amazon.com, Google and Twitter. The funding will provide resources we need for potential strategic initiatives in the medium to long term.

With this much cash on the balance sheet Lending Club can take their time before reaching profitability. Amazon took over seven years to post a profitable quarter and Lending Club is not even five years old yet. Although I don’t think Lending Club will wait two more years before reaching profitability it might not happen as soon as I originally thought – which was by the end of this year. Regardless, with their rapidly increasing loan volume and large cash war chest they have never been in a better position.

 

Filed Under: Peer to Peer Lending Tagged With: kleiner perkins, Lending Club, venture capital

Views: 933

Comments

  1. Dan B says

    June 7, 2012 at 12:12 am

    I think it’s time that we had some representation on the board of directors too. I nominate Peter. He’s non-volatile, non-controversial & malleable,………….. I mean reasonable. What do you guys think? 🙂

    Reply
  2. Peter Renton says

    June 7, 2012 at 8:06 pm

    @Dan, But how can I be an impartial industry analyst if I am on the board of Lending Club? I would have to decline such an offer….

    Reply
  3. Dan B says

    June 7, 2012 at 8:56 pm

    Hey, I’d trade “impartiality” for a voice on the board any day of the week. But maybe we’ll hold off on this. It’ll give us time to dig up some dirt on Peter………………lest we lose control of him once he gets on that board!

    Reply
  4. jack reidy says

    June 17, 2012 at 10:06 am

    Pete,

    When do you think Propser will become profitable?

    Reply
  5. Peter Renton says

    June 17, 2012 at 2:32 pm

    @Jack, Based on their current trajectory I think Prosper will move past breakeven some time next year, probably in the second half of the year.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Roundup of Social Lending News – June 9, 2012 says:
    June 9, 2012 at 3:57 am

    […] Perkins. This article was covered by pretty much every major business publication online (as well here on the Social Lending Network). I have included two articles, from the dozens published, on this big news below. Perhaps equally […]

    Reply
  2. Lending Club Returns Above Now Above 12%. Lending Club Receives $15 Million In Funding says:
    June 18, 2012 at 12:33 pm

    […] Lending Club the thumbs up is good news for social lending as a whole.  Peter Renton over at SocialLending.net comments on the news: Obviously this is good news for Lending Club and for p2p lending in general. […]

    Reply
  3. Lending Club Now Worth Over Half a Billion Dollars says:
    June 19, 2012 at 4:19 am

    […] Peter Renton on June 19, 2012 TweetWhen I wrote about the recent venture capital investment in Lending Club a couple of weeks ago the Form 8-K hadn’t yet been filed with the SEC. This […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Investor Intelligence

Peter Renton's Returns

Investor Forum

Lending Club Review

Prosper Review

Investor Resources

Most Popular Editorials

The Pure Marketplace Lending Model is Dead, the Hybrid Takes its Place

The 2018 Lending Club and Prosper Tax Guide

My Returns at Lending Club and Prosper

Map of Available States for Lending Club and Prosper Investors

Banks and Marketplace Lending Platforms: Ideal Partners?

Subscribe to the Podcast

Subscribe to the Lend Academy Podcast on iTunes
Subscribe to the Lend Academy Podcast
List of Podcast Episodes

Archives

Follow @LendAcademy Follow @LendIt

ABOUT LENDIT FINTECH NEWS

LendIt Fintech News, Powered by Lend Academy, has been bringing you all the news and information about fintech and online lending since 2010 when it was founded by Peter Renton. We not only have the industry’s most active news site, but also the largest investor forum and the first and most popular podcast.

We are a team of fintech enthusiasts who have been covering the industry for many years. With a deep knowledge of online lending, digital banking, blockchain, artificial intelligence and more our team covers the daily news and writes in-depth editorials.

Recent Editorials

  • Top 10 Fintech News Stories for the Week Ending March 6, 2021
  • Podcast 288: Leigh Phillips of SaverLife
  • The MLA and OLPI Merge to Form the American Fintech Council
  • Marcus Co-Founder Leaving for New Walmart Fintech Initiative
  • Top 10 Fintech News Stories for the Week Ending February 27, 2021

Copyright © 2021 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in