lending-marketplace
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The App That Turned Payday Loans Into a Neighborly Favor
SoLo Funds built a lending marketplace with no interest and no mandatory fees, betting that strangers would rather help strangers than let a payday lender do it. Two million users later, the model is either a fix for broken small-dollar credit or a regulatory magnet - and the founders keep insisting it is the first.
Caribou Financial, Inc.
Caribou is a Denver-based auto fintech that helps drivers cut the cost of owning their car. Through a digital platform, it connects car owners with a network of credit unions and community banks to refinance their auto loans, typically saving customers over $100 a month, and pairs that with an auto insurance marketplace and vehicle protection products. Founded in 2016 as MotoRefi and rebranded to Caribou in 2021, the company reached unicorn status with a $1.1 billion valuation after a $115 million Series C round led by Goldman Sachs in 2022.