Upgrade Inc., a San Francisco-based fintech company specialized in offering credits, has announced on Wednesday that it has closed a $105 million Series E round at a $3.325 billion valuation led by Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT). According to the press release shared with Finance Magnates, the funding round included the participation from new and existing investors, such as BRV and Ventura Capital.
“We are seeing rapid innovation in banking, and believe fintech and neobanks in particular, will profoundly transform the banking industry to the greater benefit of consumers. Upgrade has proven success in designing products that deliver more value and a better experience to consumers, and we believe they are uniquely suited to be a market leader,” Byron Knight, Managing Director at KDT, commented. KDT is an investment branch of Koch Industries.
On the same line, Renaud Laplanche, Co-Founder and CEO of Upgrade, pointed out that the company has witnessed 'unprecedented' growth and profitability so far this year. In fact, the firm seeks to strengthen Upgrade Card as a mainstream credit card.
Upgrade Forecasts to Deliver $7 Billion in Credit in 2021
According to the latest figures disclosed by the San Francisco-based fintech firm, Upgrade has granted over $7 billion in credit to consumers via cards and loans since its foundation in 2017. The company aims to deliver another $7 billion this year alone, the announcement highlighted. Additionally, Upgrade had been treading waters within the crypto sphere, as it deployed the Upgrade Bitcoin Rewards Card in July, which is a credit card that pays rewards in BTC, with the support of Financial Technology Partners LP and FTP Securities LLC.
In other news related to funding, Bank of America, one of the leading banks in the US, and Coinbase Ventures, Founders Fund and FTX recently joined the Series D funding round for Paxos, a regulated Blockchain infrastructure platform.
Paxos received a valuation of $2.4 billion. To date, the company has raised a total of $540 million.
