Credit Karma acquires US lendtech Approved
US firm Credit Karma has acquired San Diego-based lendtech Approved for its digital mortgage ambitions.
Financial details were not disclosed
Credit Karma, based in San Francisco, has 80 million members across North America, almost half of which are millennials and 80% of which access the service via their mobile devices.
Andy Taylor, founder and CEO of Approved, says it started the firm with a “vision that borrowers could visit an open house not having even talked with a lender, find the home of their dreams, and get fully pre-qualified on their mobile device before a listing agent offered them a business card”.
With this joint mobile mentality, both firms will be looking to cash in from the crowded US mortgage market. Approved says it has done nearly $5 billion in loan originations.
But bear in mind the competition. A few other recent US-based lendtech stories of note include Roostify, Blend and BeSmartee.
Back to Credit Karma. It has originated more than $40 billion in credit products including credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, automotive financing, and student loan refinancing.
Its platform offers free credit reports from Equifax and TransUnion, and seeks to serve as a hub for users to monitor their financial health.
In March, Credit Karma received a $500 million boost from Silver Lake. Credit Karma will not receive any proceeds from the sale and will not issue new shares as a part of the deal. It will, however, benefit from a 23% increase in valuation, making it worth around $4 billion.
Information on potential redundancies or financial details about the acquisition were not disclosed.
