FinTech News
Lending Marketplace Acorn Finance Raises $8.4 Million
As the new year gets underway, another FinTech is celebrating by raising money. This week, Acorn Finance (not to be confused with micro-investment app Acorns) announced that it had closed an $8.4 million round. The Series A was led by MassMutual Ventures. Previous investors Vestigo Ventures, Accomplice, and MetaProp also participated along with Moderne Ventures. To date, the company has now raised a total of $12.4 million, including seed round raises last year and in 2019.
Acorns Finance is a loan marketplace platform that allows homeowners to view home improvement loan offers from multiple lenders. Additionally, the service markets itself to contractors as a way to help their customers obtain the funding they need. According to the company, the number of loan applicants increased by 800% in 2021, which also brought an 800% increase in revenue.
With its latest fundraising, the platform hopes to expand its marketplace by including regional banks as well as credit unions. Other planned upgrades include near-instantaneous loan processing (as opposed to the current next-day status), improving customer experience, expediting application time, making algorithmic improvements, and more. Meanwhile, Acorn is also considering offering other types of loans, including those for elective healthcare and legal expenses among others.
Commenting on the impact of the Series A, Acorn Finance founder and CEO Giri Addanki said, “This new funding will allow us to double our team and expand Acorn’s technology to instantly provide customers with the most competitive lending options at the point of need.” He added, “We are thrilled to welcome MassMutual Ventures and Moderne Ventures as investment partners and look forward to leveraging their deep Fintech and Proptech expertise to accelerate Acorn’s growth.”
Additionally, MassMutual Ventures managing director Eric Emmons — who is also joining the Acorn Finance Board of Directors — said of the company, “Acorn’s embedded lending marketplace increases consumer choice while improving proposal ticket size and conversion rates. The team’s outstanding combination of vertical-specific expertise and consumer credit allows them to deliver a unique solution for SMB and service businesses.”
While the first two weeks of 2022 have been fairly quiet in terms of megarounds, Acorn Finance’s solid Series A is another win for early-round FinTech investment. It’s also worth noting that Acorn’s success could also boost other FinTechs as lenders including SoFi, Upgrade, Prosper, and others are included on the platform’s marketplace. In any case, with big plans ahead, Acorn Finance could certainly make a name for itself in the field — even if it encounters some name confusion along the way.
