SoFi Blog

Investment to Accelerate Product and International Expansion

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — February 24, 2017 — SoFi, a modern finance company taking an unprecedented approach to lending and wealth management, announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to raise $500 million in Series F financing led by Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing. The investment round brings the company’s total equity funding to $1.9 billion. The company plans to use the funds to accelerate its expansion into new product areas and countries outside of the United States. Additional investors in the company’s fundraising include SoftBank Group and GPI Capital.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth at SoFi because we know what people expect from their financial partner: they want speed, transparency, and alignment with their interests,” said Mike Cagney, SoFi co-founder, Chairman, and CEO. “We’re the only personal finance company focused not just on people’s money, but their careers and relationships as well. We know this opportunity doesn’t just exist in the United States, and look forward to bringing the SoFi approach to finance to more people around the world. Silver Lake’s global relationships, technology expertise and value creation capabilities will be an invaluable addition as we expand our business further.”

“SoFi’s platform — equal parts technology, community, and exceptional customer experience — is rapidly transforming personal finance,” said Mike Bingle, Managing Partner of Silver Lake. “We are thrilled to partner with Mike Cagney and his talented team, and we look forward to helping SoFi achieve its long-term vision of offering a broad suite of financial services around the world.”

SoFi closed 2016 with another strong year of growth, originating $8 billion in loans, up from $5 billion in 2015, and expanding its member base to 225,000 from 100,000 over the same period. It expanded its product offering in lending with the introduction of a first-of-its-kind Student Loan Payoff Refi for home mortgages and student loans in partnership with Fannie Mae. In addition to new lending products, SoFi introduced its SoFi at Work brand for employee financial wellness, SoFi Wealth for modern investment management, and a partnership with Protective to offer term life insurance. Lastly, SoFi added considerable talent to the company, growing its headcount to 750 at year’s end from 515.

In 2017, SoFi will take on new areas of personal finance and new geographies. With the recent acquisition of Zenbanx, the company plans to introduce a suite of mobile deposit, credit, and payment products to its members in the United States this year. SoFi also plans to bring its lending products to people in Australia and Canada by the end of the year.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

About SoFi

SoFi is a new kind of finance company taking a radical approach to lending, wealth management, and insurance. From unprecedented products and tools to faster service and open conversations, we’re all about helping our members get ahead and find success. Whether they’re looking to buy a home, save money on student loans, ascend in their careers, or invest in the future, the SoFi community works to empower our members to accomplish the goals they set and achieve financial greatness as a result. For more information, visit SoFi.com.

About Silver Lake

Silver Lake is the global leader in technology investing, with over $24 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a team of approximately 100 investment and value creation professionals located in Silicon Valley, New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Silver Lake’s portfolio of investments collectively generates more than $145 billion of revenue annually and employs more than 300,000 people globally. The firm’s current portfolio includes leading technology and technology-enabled businesses such as Alibaba Group, Ancestry, Broadcom Limited, Ctrip, Dell Technologies, Fanatics, Global Blue, GoDaddy, Motorola Solutions, Sabre, SolarWinds, Symantec, and WME│IMG. For more information about Silver Lake and its entire portfolio, please visit www.silverlake.com.

About GPI Capital

GPI Capital is an independent asset management firm focused on making large scale, long-term strategic investments across a broad range of industries globally. GPI specializes in significant minority, non-controlling stakes made to finance transformational initiatives in both privately-held late-stage firms and in publicly-traded companies. The GPI team is based in New York and London, and has extensive experience in this type of investment across the Americas, Asia and Europe, in sectors including financial services, technology/telecom, consumer and industrials. For more information about GPI Capital, please visit www.gpicap.com.

Media Contacts

SoFi

Jim Prosser, 415-634-7634

[email protected]

Silver Lake

Patricia Graue, 212-333-3810

[email protected]

GPI Capital

Mateo Goldman, 646-357-3140

[email protected]

Concerns about the rising cost of college in the United States—and the $1.4 trillion in student loan debt nationwide—are alive and well.

And they’ve prompted a lot of discussion about the different ways our educational peers nearby, across the pond, and beyond handle student loan repayment programs. When it comes to tuition costs and paying off student loans, the American system is unique—and not for all the reasons you might think.

It turns out that cheap or even free tuition doesn’t mean the end of student loans. Student loans are common even in countries with free tuition, because no matter where you go to college, you have to live somewhere and, of course, eat.

Sweden gets a lot of attention because tuition there is free. Still, Swedish students borrow money for college just as frequently as Americans do—and about 70% of students in both countries have student loans. But Swedish students graduate with about $20,000 in debt, compared to about $30,000 for American graduates.

To explore how the rest of the world pays for learning, we looked at the most recent QS World University Rankings. Thirty-two of the top 100 schools are in the U.S. Another 32 are found in just four countries: the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Canada. Below, we compare the way higher education is financed in all five nations, in descending rank order.

Far and away, money issues are the leading cause of stress in relationships. It makes sense when you consider that nearly 13 million Americans withhold financial information—including bank accounts and credit cards—from the people they love.

Obviously, that’s not exactly a healthy way to engage in a relationship. That’s why, instead of allowing money issues to balloon into financial infidelity, or to become even a minor source of tension between you and your partner, it’s important to talk about how the two of you plan to manage your money as a couple.

SoFi members Jennifer Nichols and Anthony Latta learned over time what it takes to successfully combine their individual financial lives with that of their partner’s through trial-and-error in their own relationships. Here’s their advice for merging money in a relationship, from what works well to what definitely doesn’t.

The plan, Jonathan recalls, was straightforward: Marry his fiancée, get away for a honeymoon, and get down to the business of starting a family.

“My wife was 39 and I’d just turned 40,” he says. “We wanted to have kids, and we also knew time wasn’t necessarily on our side.”

The wedding and honeymoon were beautiful. But soon after their return—and after several months of trying to conceive without success—they started to worry, and decided to see a doctor. “We figured she would tell us everything was fine, but then she ordered tests.”

The news wasn’t good: He and his wife were infertile. They might still have children, their doctor told them, but not without medical assistance. “Becoming parents would require a special procedure,” Jonathan says. “And it was going to cost us a lot of money.”

Six-figure annual income. Dozens of high-profile clients. Paid speaking gigs. Trade media attention. When it comes to freelance writing, I’ve been a poster child for success. I often tell people that I’ve never held a real job, and it’s true; I’ve been slinging copy just like this post since the day I graduated college in 1997.

Money has never been a challenge for me. I’m not independently wealthy or anything. I just work my butt off. Generally speaking, I average about 55 articles of 300 words or more each month. Every year I pull in about 30 different 1099s.

Because the majority of my work is travel writing, I incur some pretty significant expenses. Most years, I’m able to manage that debt just fine. The year 2015, however, was a doozy.