When a startup lands $10 million in funding, it’s a big deal for the company and its customers. But is it news?
Wednesday’s announcement that Credible has raised $10 million in Series A funding was picked up by more than a dozen news sites that cover technology, finance and higher education, ranging from the Wall Street Journal to TechCrunch.
The widespread interest in the story wasn’t necessarily the amount of the funding, but what it represents: another significant development in the emergence of “marketplace lending.”
Marketplace lending is a new way of connecting borrowers to people with money to lend. Just as the Internet has revolutionized other industries, marketplace lending has the potential to put consumers in the driver’s seat and create efficiencies that save them money.
Here are highlights of some of the coverage of Credible’s funding announcement:
Credible Raises $10M to Help Students Find Loan Options (Dow Jones VentureWire)
Leaders of the alternative-lending industry are putting $10 million in Series A venture funding into Credible Labs Inc., a company that wants to make it painless for students to attain or refinance loans.
Brief: Credible Closes $10M in Series A Funding Led By Dianrong & LendingClub Co-Founder Soul Htite (Crowdfund Insider)
As an independent, multi-lender marketplace … Credible provides borrowers with unbiased information and multiple offers from its lending partners.
The Daily Startup: Credible Raises $10 Million for Student-Loan Marketplace (The Wall Street Journal’s Venture Capital Dispatch blog)
The company’s website lists rates and loan offers from financial services firms that run the gamut from traditional banks, credit unions and peer-to-peer lending platforms.
Credible Raises $10 Million as Silicon Valley Sets Its Eyes on Student Lending (Re/code)
“In student lending, the market has changed a lot,” [said Credible founder and CEO Stephen Dash]. “There was one lender when we started refinancing, just SoFi, and now there are more than 12.”
Credible Scoops Up $10 Million, Aims to Make Student Lending More ‘Transparent’ (Inc.)
With its automated platform, Credible claims it can serve more, traditionally risky clients, by evaluating factors beyond credit scores.
“Every lender out there is really targeting a slightly different audience,” Dash tells Inc. by phone. “By combining multiple lenders, we’re able to broaden the eligibility of the people we can serve.”
Credible Closes $10m Series A (AltFi)
Familiar names on the Credible roster include CommonBond and Pave…. The Credible platform has also been adopted by a number of prestigious institutions, including the American Medical Association, the American Pharmacists Association and Georgia Tech Alumni Association.
Credible Closes $10M Series A Round to Grow Student Financing Services (EdSurge)
The company claims to have helped nearly 73,000 people with their loans and boasts average savings of $11,668 for each person refinancing student loans.
Credible, The Marketplace For Student Loans, Closes $10 Million Series A Funding (TechCrunch)
Credible founder and CEO Stephen Dash said that, of the $200 billion in outstanding student loans that have the potential to be refinanced, only around $5 billion of that is actually being refinanced.
Student Loan Shopping Site Credible Raises $10M (American Banker)
Credible plans to use the new funding to continue building its online platform, including efforts to simplify the shopping process for consumers, said Chief Executive Officer Stephen Dash.
LendingClub co-founder Soul Htite leads funding of Credible (PEHUB)
Ron Suber, president of Prosper, also participated in the round, along with peer-to-peer lending investor Scott Langmack. The company previously raised $2.7 million in seed funding from multiple investors and individuals, including Carthona Capital, Redbus Group, Mark Goines and Bruce Gibney.
Matt Carter <mcarter@credible.com> is editor of Credible News. Follow us on twitter @Credible.