AvantCredit, an online lending company that provides loans to near-prime customers, announced today a raise of $34 million in equity and debt funding led by Victory Park Capital. The company will grow its technology platform and facilitate the expansion of its loan portfolio using this investment.
Near-prime customers are often also referred to as subprime, those individuals that have poor credit and may struggle to pay back loans. AvantCredit, therefore, only offers small loans, starting at $1,000 and topping out at $10,000. Since launch in late 2012, AvantCredit has used analytics to study credit, social and other data to evaluate customers for high likely approvals at the lowest possible rates.
Already, AvantCredit’s loan portfolio has reached $4 million, which it plans to grow past $1 billion in the coming years. The team running AvantCredit previously founded Enova International, Inc., an international online short-term lender whose annual revenue tops $700 million. If that’s not enough, another former company, Pangea Properties, owns and manages 8,000 apartments to provide affordable housing.
Founder and Chairman Al Goldstein’s prior success with low-income consumers seems to have helped him create an easy, accessible lending company for credit-troubled people. The three steps—apply, get approved, receive cash the next day—are computer-, tablet- and mobile-ready, while helping lendees track budgets with rewards for timely payments. By automatically reporting successful payments to major credit companies, AvantCredit could succeed in helping customers build back their credit.
“We are excited to be at the forefront of providing innovative credit products to our customers,” said John Sun, co-founder and Chief Risk Officer of AvantCredit in a statement. Sun formerly worked at Enova. “This funding will allow us to grow our internal technology and analytics capabilities so that we can continue to offer our customers great online credit products that are lacking in today’s market.”
Check out their BIC profile here.
