SoFi Technologies, Inc. (commonly known as SoFi) is an American online personal finance company and online bank. Based in San Francisco, SoFi provides financial products including student and auto loan refinancing, mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, investing, and banking through both mobile app and desktop interfaces.
Advertisement
SoFi, short for Social Finance Inc., was founded in the summer of 2011 by Mike Cagney, Dan Macklin, James Finnigan, and Ian Brady, four students who met at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
The founders hoped SoFi could provide more affordable options for those taking on debt to fund their education. The company’s inaugural loan program was a pilot at Stanford; for this pilot program, 40 alumni loaned about $2 million to approximately 100 students, for an average of $20,000 per student.
In September 2012, SoFi raised $77.2 million, led by Baseline Ventures, with participation from DCM and Renren. Additional investors included Ron Suber.
Advertisement
SoFi has since entered into several agreements with several big banks.
As SoFi’s product offerings expanded to include mortgages, mortgage refinancing, and personal loans, the company moved away from an alumni-funded model to a non-traditional underwriting approach focused on lending to financially responsible individuals.
They also offer cash management (checking) accounts and an investment platform that includes brokerage and robo-advisor services.
When did Anthony Noto become CEO of SoFi?
Anthony Noto became CEO of SoFi in February 2018. Previously he was the COO (chief operating officer) of Twitter from November 2016 to February 2018 and was the company’s CFO (Chief Financial Officer) from July 2014 until August 2017.
Leave a Reply