Upstart wants to replace the blunt instrument of conventional credit scoring with a learning system that prices each borrower more precisely. Its next test is larger than approval rates: proving an AI marketplace can grow through a full credit cycle without becoming the bank it once said it did not need to be.
Equitybee is a financial technology marketplace that connects startup employees who can't afford to exercise their vested stock options with accredited investors willing to fund the exercise in exchange for a share of the future upside. Founded in 2017 by three childhood friends and headquartered in Palo Alto, the platform lets employees convert paper equity into real ownership - or cash - without waiting for an IPO, while giving investors a rare way to buy into pre-IPO companies they otherwise couldn't reach.