Orchard Platform Raises $30 Million in Series B Funding

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Sep 10, 2015) - Orchard Platform, a technology and infrastructure provider for marketplace lending, today announced it has raised $30 million in Series B funding. This brings the total investment in Orchard to $44.7 million. Thrive Capital, a private equity and venture capital firm focused on technology and media investments, led the round, with additional participation from Jon Winkelried, Former President & Co-Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sachs, Victory Park Capital, Thomvest Ventures, and existing investors including Spark Capital, Canaan Partners, QED Investors, Nyca Partners, Conversion Capital, John Mack, and Tom Glocer. Orchard will use the funds to accelerate the evolution of its technology platform.

Marketplace lending has become a disruptive force in institutional finance, enabling lenders to diversify their funding sources and ultimately expand access to credit. During the past year, this new funding strategy has expanded to include new asset classes, product types, and geographies. Orchard sits at the nexus of the new marketplace lending industry and has helped fuel its growth by disrupting the way institutional investors engage with and fund loan originators, providing risk management and reporting capabilities and serving as an important source of data to industry participants.

"Our core business vision -- of facilitating a faster and more fluid flow of capital through technology and access to data -- has gained enormous traction," said Matt Burton, CEO of Orchard Platform. "The market has responded and investors are committed to helping Orchard flourish. We're excited to help continue shaping the future of credit."

"Over the last 18 months, marketplace lending has led to rapid and fundamental changes in the world of finance," said Jon Winkelried. "Orchard's vision -- along with its platform and services -- has played a central and important role in making these changes possible. The company's Series B raise will act as an accelerant for Orchard's continued expansion and positive industry impact."

"Marketplace lending is a remarkable development in the evolution of capital markets," said Christian Lawless, of Conversion Capital, who has invested in Orchard from day one. "The appetite for this asset class is tremendous -- particularly as new loan originators arrive on the scene with new opportunities. Orchard is building the only full stack technology enabled platform, purpose built for the opportunity with transparency and superior technology at its core. The financial services marketplace represents one of the biggest untapped markets for innovation and technical advancement, and Orchard is a leader in the space."

"We expect marketplace lending to be a large segment of the institutional marketplace, in the developed as well as less developed economies," said Hans Morris, Managing Partner of Nyca Partners. "One can only believe that the essential tools for institutional investors must exist, such as order management, statementing, benchmarking, and standardization of data for investors and issuers. This is what Orchard does."

In 2014, global investment in fintech ventures grew to $12.1 billion, demonstrating that financial services are ripe for disruption. Investors recognize that marketplace lending will have an ongoing and growing impact on how credit is accessed by millions of borrowers around the world. To date, institutional investors have used Orchard's technology to help facilitate billions of dollars of investment in marketplace-funded loans. Orchard will continue to create technologies that drive the industry's next generation of growth.

"This market is evolving at a blazing pace," said Burton. "These funds will enable us to build on our traction to date and help shape the future of marketplace lending. It's an exciting time."

About Orchard
Orchard Platform is a technology and infrastructure provider for marketplace lending. Orchard supports operational efficiencies to help institutional investors, investment managers and loan originators connect and transact. Founded in New York City in 2013, Orchard's mission is to build the systems that will allow marketplace lending to efficiently grow into a global financial market. Orchard enables institutional investors and investment managers to allocate capital to marketplace lending, with best practices, manager identification, portfolio benchmarking and strategic access to supply. Orchard helps originators across multiple asset classes diversify their capital structure with marketplace lending distribution, and provides market insights, scalable infrastructure and reporting to enable originators to focus on making loans and giving borrowers more choices. Orchard has been named to Forbes Next Billion Dollar Startups list and is recognized for its technical and analytical thought leadership as explored on its blog.