Prosper, a peer-to-peer financing platform to invest and borrow money, raised $20m in financing.
The round was led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from all existing investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Crosslink Capital, Accel Partners, CompuCredit, Omidyar Network, Eric Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures and Volition Capital.
The company intends to use the capital to accelerate its growth.
In addition to the funding, Prosper also appointed Stephan Vermut as Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors. Vermut, who succeeds Dawn Lepore, who has served as interim CEO since March 2012, is the former founder and managing partner of Merlin Securities as well as a seasoned entrepreneur, corporate executive and technologist with more than 25 years of experience in financial services.
The company also named Ron Suber as Head of Global Institutional Sales, and Aaron Vermut as President.
In conjunction with the investment, Sequoia Capital Partner Pat Grady will join Prosper’s board of directors.
Prosper allows borrowers to list loan requests between $2,000 and $25,000, and individual lenders to invest as little as $25 in each loan listing they select. Over the past six years, more than $400,000,000 in personal loans have originated through the company’s platform.
FinSMEs
23/01/2013