Looks like I’m not the only converted believer in the rise of peer to peer lending as an asset class…
Lending Club, which commands about 75% of the market for p2p loans, landed a strategic investor today. Mary Meeker, formerly the technology axe for Morgan Stanley and now a partner at Kleiner Perkins (KPCB), is leading a $15M investment and will join the firm’s board.
Why is this important?
- Lending Club has now raised over $100M
- this brings LC’s total unrestricted cash to almost $50M
- LC has originated over $650M in loans and is adding something like $135 million each quarter
- it’s just a huge approbation to the viability of LC and the p2p lending industry in general
Lending Club’s CEO, Renaud Laplanche (who’s scheduled for a future episode of Tradestreaming Radio) had this to say about Meeker:
“Kleiner Perkins is virtually synonymous with breakthrough brands we love like Amazon.com, Google, and Twitter. Mary’s unique depth of experience across both the financial industry and with the Internet’s category leaders will be instrumental in Lending Club’s continued growth and mainstream adoption,” said Laplanche. “We are thrilled to welcome both Kleiner Perkins and Mary as our new partners.”
I love it when things get interesting.