The Most Valuable Online Lender? The Answer May Surprise You

GreenSky is a company that has flown under the radar for years. The Atlanta-based company has built a wildly successful business but generally doesn’t like to talk about it publicly.

Yesterday we learned from the Wall Street Journal that the company received a new $200 million funding round from Pimco, valuing the company at nearly $4.5 billion. According to the WSJ, the company will use funds for general corporate purposes and is exploring to enter other categories in point of sale financing.

GreenSky is now the most valuable online lender, surpassing SoFi and is also the second most valuable private fintech company behind Stripe. GreenSky was previously valued at $3.6 billion in 2016. GreenSky works with retailers, health care providers, merchants and contractors to offer financing up to $55,000. The loans are then funded by a variety of banks.

What makes GreenSky unique is their vast sales force. They have thousands of merchants and contractors who work directly with customers. As a customer is making a purchase decision, these merchants and contractors can offer financing. It’s a true win-win relationship and has allowed GreenSky to grow without having to deal with the high cost of customer acquisition that most online lenders face. It’s a truly differentiated model and with this new round it will be interesting to see where they go from here.

If you’re interested in learning more about GreenSky and its founder David Zalik, Forbes did a fascinating feature back in September 2017.