www.prosper.com
HQ Location: San Francisco, California
Product Being Demoed: Social Lending on Prosper
Product Launched: 2007/2008
Metrics: Over 670,000 members and over $130 million in funded loans, $40M raised
How they describe themselves:
Prosper, America's largest people-to-people lending marketplace, was created to make consumer lending more financially and socially rewarding for everyone. The way Prosper works is intuitive to people who have used eBay. Instead of listing and bidding on items, people list and bid on loans using Prosper's online auction platform. People who want to borrow on Prosper create loan listings for up to $25,000 and set the maximum rate they are willing to pay a lender. People who register as Prosper lenders set the minimum interest rate they are willing to earn and bid in increments of $50 to $25,000 on loan listings they select. In addition to criteria commonly used by institutional lenders, such as credit scores and histories, Prosper lenders can consider borrowers' personal stories, endorsements from friends, and group affiliations. Once the auction ends, Prosper takes the bids with the lowest rates and combines them into one simple loan to the borrower. Prosper handles all on-going loan administration tasks including loan repayment and collections on behalf of the matched borrowers and lenders.
Executives: Chris Larsen (CEO and Co-Founder), John Witchel (CTO and Co-Founder), Kirk Inglis (CFO), Catherine Muriel (CMO)
Investors: Accel (www.accel.com), DAG (www.dagventures.com), Omidyar Network (www.omidyar.net), Meritech Capital (www.meritechcapital.com), Fidelity Ventures (www.fidelityventures.com), Benchmark (www.benchmarkcapital.com)
Board Members: Jim Breyer (Accel Partners), Larry Cheng of Fidelity Ventures, Paul Hazen (Former CEO of Wells Fargo), Bob Kagle (Benchmark Capital)
Partnerships: Experian, WebBank, Wells Fargo
Customers: Approximately 40% of Prosper’s funded borrowers fall into the prime category (credit scores of 720 and above). Only 5% of funded borrowers fall into the subprime category (credit scores between 520 and 599).
Contacts:
Business Dev. & Sales – Adrienne Penake, adrienne@prosper.com
Press – Tiffany Fox, Communications Director, tiffany@prosper.com, 415-593-5416
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