Prism – a first-of-its-kind lending platform designed for startup tech companies and employees – announced the launch of its origination services following a combined Seed and Series A fundraising of $26 million led by Pantera Capital and Human Capital. Essentially, Prism works directly with pre-IPO companies to enable employees of those startups to borrow against company equity for personal use – ranging from the down payment on a home to paying off personal recourse debt. And the platform maintains a strict underwriting process and offers competitive rates to meet the needs of the current market environment.
Prism has a goal of helping startup workers access their slice of the $2 trillion locked up in private U.S. tech companies, which is traditionally inaccessible prior to a public listing or acquisition. And Prism focuses exclusively on technology companies with valuations of $1 billion or higher. So far, the company has signed multiple agreements to begin originating loans in the coming months and has a pipeline of over $100 million in loan volume.
Prism CEO and co-founder Ari Stiegler is also the managing partner of Flux Capital and has directed over $200 million in transactions across venture capital, real estate and direct investments.
Prism’s third co-founder is none other than Ryan Breslow, who is the former CEO and founder of $11 billion payments platform Bolt. He joined Stiegler and Friedman on their mission – which Breslow has described as providing “financial tools to private wealth-holders (i.e. today’s innovators), which liquid wealth-holders already have.”
KEY QUOTES:
“Prism is ideally suited to today’s market: valuations have returned to attractive levels and startup workers are increasingly seeking new options to access the equity they’ve earned in their company without waiting years for an IPO.”
“Today’s launch and our robust capital raise reflect the growing demand for our lending platform that we’ve been hearing from startup leaders, employees and investors alike.”
— Ari Stiegler, CEO and co-founder of Prism
“Lending is a symbiotic relationship between borrower and lender. Now that private valuations have begun to normalize, Prism can offer a valuable product that is a win-win for both sides of the equation.”
— Noah Friedman, Prism’s co-founder and COO
