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Lending Startup Upgrade Closes $105M Series E Round
The company recently launched a credit card that pays rewards in bitcoin rather than cash.
Upgrade, the lending startup co-founded by the former CEO of Lending Club, Renaud Laplanche, has raised $105 million in a Series E funding round that takes the firm’s valuation to $3.325 billion.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
- The funding round was led by Koch Disruptive Technologies with contributions from new and existing investors, including BRV and Ventura Capital advised by Julius Baer.
- In July, Upgrade launched its Bitcoin Rewards Card, a credit card that pays rewards in bitcoin rather than cash.
- "We created the Upgrade Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card for those consumers who are either crypto enthusiasts or are just getting started, and wanted a low-risk way to participate in the crypto economy," Laplanche, the CEO of Upgrade, said in a statement to CoinDesk.
- The Upgrade card is the company's flagship product and pays rewards to cardholders as they pay down their balance.
- "We have experienced unprecedented growth and profitability this year, and the additional capital will enable us to further establish Upgrade Card as a mainstream credit card and continue designing innovative products that benefit consumers," said Laplanche.
UPDATE (Aug. 11, 16:16 UTC): Adds quote from Laplanche.
Tanzeel Akhtar
Tanzeel Akhtar has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes Africa, Financial Times, The Street, Citywire, Investing.com, Euromoney, Yahoo! Finance, Benzinga, Kitco News, African Business Magazine, Hedge Week, Campden Family Office, Modern Investor, Spear's Wealth Management Magazine, Global Investor, ETF.com, ETF Stream, CIO UK, Funds Global Asia, Portfolio Institutional, Interactive Investor, Bitcoin Magazine, CryptoNews.com, Bitcoin.com, The Local, The Next Web, Mining Journal, Money Marketing, Marketing Week and more. Tanzeel trained as a foreign correspondent at the University of Helsinki, Finland and newspaper journalist at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She holds a BA (Honours) in English Literature from the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK and completed a semester abroad as an ERASMUS student at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She is NCTJ Qualified - Media Law, Public Administration and passed the Shorthand 100WPM with distinction. She does not currently hold value in any digital currencies or projects.
