Since 2006, P2P & online lending have enjoyed explosive growth. Lending Club and Prosper, America’s two largest P2P lenders have now surpassed $2B in loan origination, and P2P has captured the attention of industry legends, the financial media, the investing public and even today’s technology giants.
Lending Club’s board is comprised of such recognized leaders as former Visa Inc. President Hans Morris; the former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence H. Summers; Morgan Stanley Chairman Emeritus John Mack and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers general partner Mary Meeker. Prominent venture capitalist firms invested in the sector include: Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Accel Partners, Sequoia Capital, Union Square Ventures, Foundation Capital, Thomvest and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Buyers.
But the industry reached a new pinnacle last Thursday when Google (GOOG) announced it has led a $125 million deal to buy a stake in Lending Club from existing investors. This transaction values Lending Club at $1.55 billion – nearly tripling the valuation of its last fund-raising round less than a year ago.
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