Online financial services company SoFi raises $500 million
San Francisco online financial services company SoFi has raised $500 million in a new financing round led by technology-focused private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, the company announced Friday.
The money will help fuel the company’s international expansion efforts in Australia and Canada and its push into new product areas, particularly personal finance.
SoFi has tried to differentiate itself from the crush of startups trying to upend the old-guard banking and lending industries by offering a range of supplemental personal services to its customers, like career counseling and even singles nights.
“We’re the only personal finance company focused not just on people’s money, but their careers and relationships as well,” said Mike Cagney, SoFi’s co-founder, chairman and CEO in a statement.
The company introduced its first $2 million pilot loan program at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, Cagney’s alma mater.
SoFi has looked to broaden its offerings in recent years, rolling out mortgage loans, personal loans, life insurance, employee benefit services and other financial products.
Thomas Brown, who specializes in the financial technology and banking industries as a partner at the San Francisco law firm Paul Hastings law firm, noted that traditional retail financial products like credit and debit services can often serve as an entry point for things like mortgages and loan refinancing.