Peer-to-peer lending platform CircleBack Lending has closed a $1.9 million equity funding round. Led by GETCO LLC founders Daniel Tierney and Stephen Schuler, the round will help CircleBack to prepare for nationwide expansion.
GETCO is an electronic securities trading firm that merged with Knight Capital Group earlier this year. “GETCO revolutionized the way investors trade stocks by utilizing new technology,” said CircleBack CEO Michael Solomon. “Today, we see a similar opportunity in the consumer credit market, and look forward to leveraging Dan and Stephen’s experience as we scale.”
CircleBack Lending launched in July 2013 with the goal of providing personal loans to prime consumers at better rates than they can typically get from traditional banks or credit cards. CircleBack partners with private funds, community banks, endowments, and family offices, who purchase these loans as an alternative investment.
In addition to the raise, CircleBack has announced the hiring of Alan Schiffres as Chief Credit Officer. Mr. Schiffres previously led the Consumer Risk Management and Advanced Analytics practices at Novantas, and served in multiple managerial positions at Citicorp, Dean Witter, and American Express, where he was Senior Risk Officer for the Gold/Platinum Card Division and consumer lending products.
CircleBack has also added John Donovan, Mitch Braselton, Dr. Donald Kumka, and Richard Taverna to its Board of Advisors. Mr. Donovan was formerly Chief Operating Officer of Lending Club and Vice President of Global Product Development at MasterCard. Mr. Braselton is the Founder of Eastland Peak Capital, and has previously been a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank Securities, Morgan Stanley, and Garrison Investment Group. Dr. Kumka and Mr. Taverna are seasoned credit risk analysts with expertise in advanced statistical modeling, monitoring, and forecasting for the consumer lending industry.