Upgrade, a leading fintech company providing affordable credit and banking products for mainstream consumers, announced it has raised $165 million in a Series G equity round. The funding round was led by Neuberger Berman Funds, with participation from LuminArx Capital Management. Existing investors, including DST Global and Ribbit Capital, also expanded their commitments to the company. As part of the deal, Peter Sterling, Head of Specialty Finance at Neuberger, will join Upgrade’s Board of Directors.
Founded in 2017, Upgrade has rapidly scaled to deliver more than $42 billion in affordable credit to over 7.5 million customers. The company’s platform spans multiple financial products such as mobile banking, buy now pay later (BNPL) solutions, credit cards, personal loans, home improvement financing, and auto financing. This multi-product strategy has enabled Upgrade to sustain growth and profitability amid challenging market conditions that have tested many fintech peers.
A key factor in Upgrade’s success has been its extensive proprietary distribution network. The company partners with hundreds of airlines, cruise lines, and travel brands, as well as thousands of home improvement contractors and auto dealerships across the United States. These partnerships allow Upgrade to acquire customers efficiently and cross-sell multiple financial products through a low-cost distribution strategy.
The company has also hit major milestones, including surpassing $2 billion in cumulative home improvement financing and $1 billion in auto financing. Both products were launched only a few years ago, highlighting Upgrade’s ability to scale new offerings quickly.
How the funding will be used: With the funding, Upgrade plans to expand its suite of financial products and extend its reach among mainstream consumers. The goal, according to the company, is to continue developing accessible financial solutions that help users improve their credit and overall financial standing. BofA Securities acted as the exclusive placement agent for the transaction. To date, Upgrade has raised a total of $750 million in equity funding.
KEY QUOTES:
“Upgrade presents an unmatched opportunity in fintech. As many companies in the space struggle with acquisition costs and monetization strategy, Upgrade has sustained profitable growth through a multi-product, multi-channel strategy that relies on low-cost, proprietary distribution channels to acquire new customers and its ability to monetize users through multiple products. We have known Renaud and the Upgrade founding team for over a decade and are very excited to expand our partnership.”
– Peter Sterling, Head of Specialty Finance at Neuberger
“We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Neuberger and welcome Peter as a new board member. We are planning to use the new equity capital to keep developing new products and expand distribution to achieve our goal of helping more mainstream consumers get the banking and credit products they need today, while improving their financial and credit standing in the long run.”
– Renaud Laplanche, Co-founder and CEO of Upgrade
