Upstart is Heading into Small Business Lending

Upstart, the fintech AI consumer lender originally known for its student loan platform, is heading into small business lending.

“…we believe there is an unmet need to provide fast, easy access to affordable installment loans to business owners across the country,” said Upstart CEO David Girouard during the earnings call. “Every small business is different and they operate across a crazy wide spectrum of industries.”

Girouard explained that there are “significant challenges to delivering a compelling loan product that is useful to business owners,” in which there is also reliable value for the lender itself.

“This challenge is tailor-made for Upstart,” Girouard said. “While there is no shortage of credit options to business owners, we aim to deliver the zero-latency affordable credit solution that modern businesses require. This is another product in high demand from our bank and credit union partners, and we hope to bring it to market during 2022 as well.”

Upstart is no small player. The company’s market cap is currently around $20B and it is putting out about 1.5M loans a year for a total of more than $16B.