Fintech company Upgrade has announced $165 million in Series G funding.
The investment in the U.S.-based company was led by Neuberger. LuminArx Capital Management was also involved alongside existing shareholders including DST Global and Ribbit Capital.
The company offers buy now, pay later (BNPL) and other credit options to consumers.
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Two years ago, it acquired Uplift (now Flex Pay), a BNPL provider in travel, for $100 million. At the time, Upgrade co-founder and CEO Renaud Laplanche described the acquisition as a good fit because the two brands have similar customers—with an average age of 40 and higher-than-average income—and because Uplift’s products are linked to some of the largest travel brands in the U.S. and Canada.
As part of the latest funding round, Peter Sterling, head of specialty finance at Neuberger, is joining the Upgrade board.
“We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Neuberger and welcome Peter as a as a new board member,“ said Laplanche. “We are planning to use the new equity capital to keep developing new products and expand distribution to achieve our goal of helping more mainstream consumers get the banking and credit product they need today.”
Sterling said that “Upgrade presents an unmatched opportunity in fintech.”
“As many companies in the space struggle with acquisition costs and monetization strategy, Upgrade has sustained profitable growth through a multi-product, multi-channel strategy that relies on low-cost, proprietary distribution channels to acquire new customers and its ability to monetize users through multiple products,” he said.