Online lender Avant has inked a “definitive agreement” in a Series E funding round for $325 million. The funding is expected to close this October. Avant’s total equity raised now tops $650 million and debt raised goes to $1.1 billion.
The lead investor in this round is General Atlantic with participation from Balyasny Asset Management and JP Morgan. Earlier investors Tiger Global and August Capital are “expected to participate as well – along with RRE Ventures and DFJ Growth.
Jonathan Korngold from General Atlantic called Avant an exceptional, next generation financial institution.
“We are excited to partner with Al and the Avant team and look forward to helping to extend the company’s global leadership position in the years to come,” stated Korngold.
General Atlantic highlighted the “best in class” technology and innovative underwriting ability of Avant in serving the non-prime consumer. Korngold is expect to join the Avant Board of Directors along with the investment.
The marketplace lending platform uses technology to streamline the personal loan making process. Today the platform operates in the US, Canada and UK but expectations are for the platform to expand into other markets.
“Avant is serving unmet demand on a global scale and providing millions of consumers with access to responsible credit in a clear and timely manner. We are proud of Avant’s tremendous growth over the last three years and continue to believe in the power of technology to innovate and improve the customer experience,” said Al Goldstein, Chief Executive Officer of Avant.
Avant has also arranged to sell $1.8 billion through the Avant Institutional Marketplace. The company states it will expand its suite of financial products. More than 310,000 customers have been served and by the end of 2015, Avant expects over $2 billion in loans to have been originated through the Avant technology platform.