Fintech company Orchard Platform said to raise $20 mln Series C round

Orchard Platform has finished raising its latest round of funding, according to two sources.

The New York provider of data, technology and software has collected $20 million in a Series C round, the people said. Orchard is expected to announce the round soon.

Who invested in the funding round is unclear. The round is composed of mainly small institutions and high-net-worth individuals, one of the sources said. News of Orchard’s expected Series C round was reported by the New York Times in May.

Founded in 2013, Orchard is considered a unicorn in the direct lending space, according to Crowdfund Insider. The fintech company has raised $44.7 million through three rounds.

Orchard most recently raised $30 million in 2015. New investors included Goldman Sachs Group President Jon Winkelried, Victory Park Capital and Thomvest Ventures. Another round, led by Spark Capital and Canaan Partners, in 2014 collected $12 million. Orchard’s seed round, in 2013, weighed in at $2.7 million.

Orchard CEO Matt Burton, addressing a group of executives and investors, in 2016 unveiled plans for a loan-trading platform, called Orchard X, the New York Times said. Orchard has since burned through more than $5 million in legal fees and other expenses, the story said.

The company has also been working its way through regulatory issues; the SEC considers loans being traded as securities, which would impose tougher oversight, the New York Times said. Major lending platforms have also been reluctant to participate in Orchard X. The platform, in January, arranged its first sale of about $30 million in loans from CAN Capital, the New York Times said.

Orchard last year also had to endure upheaval caused by the LendingClub scandal. Renaud Laplanche, LendingClub’s co-founder, left the online lender in May 2016 after an internal probe found the company had falsified documentation when selling $22 million of loans to an investor, Reuters reported. The company then cut 12 percent of its workforce as loan volumes declined, the Wall Street Journal said the following June.

LendingClub is now rebounding. Earlier this week, the company raised its earnings outlook after reporting its second highest quarterly revenue in its history, Reuters said.

Executives for Orchard declined comment. Spark and Canaan could not be reached for comment.

Action Item: Call Orchard CEO Matt Burton at +1 888-217-2718

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