INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
outfit Spark Capital.Affirm declined to comment
Representatives of Thrive and Spark, existing Affirm investors, have not responded to a request for comment.Sources familiar with Affirm,
which gives consumers an alternative to personal loans and credit by financing online purchases at point-of-sale, presume the round will be
made up largely of a line of credit from a large financial institution, known as a warehouse facility.Affirm recently raised a $300 million
Thrive-led Series F round in April at a valuation of $3 billion
Fintech companies focused on payments and lending, however, require a vast amount of capital to sustain operations
Those capital requirements coupled with the frothiness of the venture capital market justify this additional cash infusion.To date, Affirm
has raised $1.03 billion in funding from Ribbit Capital, Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners
and more, according to PitchBook
date.Affirm offers installment plans to online shoppers, a method of delayed payment historically reserved for large purchase like vehicles
Using Affirm, consumers can create personalized installment plans for purchases as small as a pair of sneakers sold by StockX or as large as
a diamond engagement ring from Diamond Nexus, for example.Affirm, serving as an alternative to a credit card charge, requires no paperwork,
minimum credit score or income
Affirm, doubling down on the opportunity in B2B, spun out a new financial services business focused entirely on business lending earlier
wrote in an April press release
other financial frontiers, with the former launching a lending tool as well as a corporate credit card this month
collected through Square payments.Venture investment in fintech companies headquartered in the U.S
is poised to reach new highs this year
In the first eight months of 2019, $10.5 billion was funneled into the sector, following a record high of $11.6 billion in 2018
Globally, fintech investment is increasing, too, with nearly $20 billion deployed this year, per PitchBook.Competition in the fintech space
has accelerated growth and innovation, as consumer-friendly, frictionless tools permeate the conservative and highly-regulated finance
industry.Following a year of fintech mega-rounds, we expect to seem a series of fintech initial public offerings as soon as next year
