PeopleFund Funding, Investors & Competitors

PeopleFund has raised $144M across 9 funding rounds, most recently a $20M Series C in January 2023.

Last PeopleFund funding round

$20M

Series C · Jan 2023

Cumulative funding PeopleFund raised

$144M

across 9 funding rounds

Key investors in PeopleFund

  • 500 Global
  • D3 Jubilee
  • CLSA Capital Partners
  • DAYLI Financial Group
  • Bain Capital
  • TBT Partners
  • Goldman Sachs
  • Access Ventures

PeopleFund Overview

About PeopleFund

PeopleFund is a Seoul-headquartered digital lending platform that specializes in consumer finance using proprietary data-driven credit models. Founded in 2015, the company has originated over $1 billion in loans and serves nearly 400,000 retail investors through products integrated directly into KakaoTalk. PeopleFund completed its Series C funding round, raising $63.4 million in total equity. The platform maintains low loss rates while offering competitive loan rates and investment opportunities to Korean consumers.


Founded

2015

HQ

South KoreaSeoul

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2C

Revenue model

Product sales, Subscription

PeopleFund Funding History

PeopleFund has raised a total of $144M across 9 funding rounds.

PeopleFund's first fundraising round was a $1M Series A in July 2015. The most recent completed round was a $20M Series C in January 2023.

PeopleFund funding rounds

PeopleFund funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedDeal Summary
Jan 2023Series CBain Capital (lead); D3 Jubilee; TBT Partners; CLSA Capital Partners; IBX Group; Kakao Investment; 500 Global; Access Ventures$20MPeopleFund is a South Korea-based P2P lending platform specializing in consumer loans, leveraging AI-powered risk management and credit scoring systems to connect borrowers and lenders. It focuses on near-prime borrowers with mid-interest refinancing loans, achieving industry-low delinquency rates of around 2.06% as of late 2021 and early 2023. The platform has deployed over $1.3 billion in loans cumulatively by December 2022, with a loan balance of $264.3 million at that time, positioning it as the largest in Korea's marketplace lending industry for personal loans. In January 2023, PeopleFund raised a $20 million Series C extension exclusively from existing investors led by Bain Capital, with participation from 500 Global, Access Ventures, CLSA Capital Partners, D3 Jubilee, IBX, Kakao Investment, and TBT Partners. This followed a $63.4 million (75.9 billion KRW) Series C in December 2021, also led by Bain Capital with Goldman Sachs, 500 Global, and CLSA, bringing total equity to about $100 million. Additionally, it secured $240 million in debt financing in 2022 from Goldman Sachs, CLSA Lending Ark Asia, and Bain Capital. The new funds aim to advance AI-based credit scoring, risk management, and launch B2B services for financial institutions, while meeting P2P licensing requirements. PeopleFund reported 56.7% borrower growth and 9.6% lender growth year-over-year, with 20,688 borrowers and 2,943,883 lenders by December 2022. It holds a preliminary MyData license and emphasizes data-driven underwriting outperforming non-bank peers.
May 2022Series ATBT Partners; IBX Partners$12M-
Nov 2021Series CBain Capital (lead); Goldman Sachs; CLSA Capital Partners; 500 Global$63MPeopleFund is a South Korea-based peer-to-peer lending platform specializing in consumer loans, particularly mid-interest personal loans for near-prime borrowers, leveraging an AI-powered credit scoring system (CSS 4.0) with quantitative, qualitative, and demand forecasting models. Founded in 2015, it differentiates through low delinquency rates (2.06% as of October 2021), strong risk management, and a 57% market share in P2P personal loans based on loan balance. The platform targets South Korea's $67 billion traditional personal credit loan market, with refinancing loans comprising 66% of its portfolio, and had managed over $1 billion in loans by October 2021, reaching KRW1.1666 trillion in loan originations by end-October 2021. On approximately November 30, 2021, PeopleFund closed a $63.4 million (KRW75.9 billion) Series C equity round led by Bain Capital, with participation from Goldman Sachs, CLSA Lending Ark Asia (also referred to as CLSA Capital Partners), and 500 Global. This brought total equity raised to about $83.6 million (KRW100 billion), the largest among Korean lending platforms at the time. Funds were allocated to hiring AI engineers, securing alternative data, and advancing machine learning-based credit scoring algorithms, including preparations for a MyData license. Post-round traction included loan originations growing to an estimated $1.3 billion by December 2022 (from $936 million in October 2021), with a loan balance of $264.3 million as of December 2022. Borrower growth exceeded 56.7% year-over-year to 20,688, while lenders reached 2,943,883 (9.6% growth). In January 2023, PeopleFund raised a $20 million Series C extension from existing investors including Bain Capital, Access Ventures, CLSA Capital Partners Lending Ark Asia, 500 Global, and others, bringing total equity to around $100 million; it also secured $240 million in debt financing in 2022 from Goldman Sachs, CLSA Lending Ark Asia, and Bain Capital. The company anticipated profitability in 2022 and planned B2B AI credit scoring services for financial institutions.
Sep 2020Series CCLSA Capital Partners; 500 Global$24M-
Jun 2019Series BCLSA Capital Partners (lead); D3 Jubilee; Shinhan Investment$6M-
Oct 2018Series BKakao Pay (lead); D3 Jubilee; DAYLI Financial Group; MORU Asset Management; Ryukyung PSG Asset Management; 500 Global$11MPeopleFund is a South Korean peer-to-peer lending startup operating in the competitive P2P marketplace. It raised an $11 million Series B funding round in November 2018, led by Kakao Pay, with participation from 500 Global, D3 Jubilee, DAYLI Financial Group, and others. The round follows a $5.7 million Series A in June 2017, bringing total funding to $17 million. Proceeds from the Series B were allocated to product development, hiring to expand headcount from 90 staff with a focus on R&D, and enhancing its credit rating model and risk pricing for loans and mortgages. Kakao Pay, the fintech division of Korea’s dominant messaging platform with 43 million users, led the investment to leverage synergies in payments and fintech services amid exploding digital loan demand. The Korean P2P market had paid out $4 billion in loans over the prior four years, with forecasts for $10 billion cumulative by year-end 2019 and annual volumes reaching $3 billion.
Jun 2017Series AD3 Jubilee; Wooshin Venture Investment; DAYLI Financial Group; 500 Global$6M-
Apr 2016Pre-seed500 Global$400K-
Jul 2015Series AD3 Jubilee; DAYLI Financial Group; 500 Global$1M-

Who has invested in PeopleFund?

16 investors have backed PeopleFund across its funding rounds, including 500 Global, D3 Jubilee, CLSA Capital Partners, DAYLI Financial Group, Bain Capital and TBT Partners.

Lead investors include Bain Capital, CLSA Capital Partners and Kakao Pay.


PeopleFund Investors

Investors in PeopleFund by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
500 GlobalUnited StatesPalo Alto, CA7ParticipantJul 2015
D3 JubileeSouth KoreaSeoul5ParticipantJul 2015
CLSA Capital PartnersHong KongHong Kong4LeadJun 2019
DAYLI Financial GroupSouth KoreaSeoul3ParticipantJul 2015
TBT PartnersSouth KoreaSeoul2ParticipantMay 2022
Bain CapitalUnited StatesBoston, MA2LeadNov 2021
Wooshin Venture InvestmentSouth KoreaSeoul1ParticipantJun 2017
MORU Asset ManagementSouth KoreaSeoul1ParticipantOct 2018
Goldman SachsUnited StatesNew York City, NY1ParticipantNov 2021
Kakao PaySouth KoreaSeongnam1LeadOct 2018
IBX PartnersSouth KoreaSeoul1ParticipantMay 2022
IBX GroupUnited StatesWashington, DC1ParticipantJan 2023
Ryukyung PSG Asset ManagementSouth KoreaSeoul1ParticipantOct 2018

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PeopleFund Competitors

PeopleFund competitors include listed companies like Verisk Analytics, Wolters Kluwer and Shanghai DZH, and private ones like Branch, Qontigo and Capitolis.

Public and private companies comparable to PeopleFund
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
Verisk AnalyticsUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$3.1B$1.7B$26B9.5x
Wolters KluwerNetherlandsNetherlandsPublicly listed$6.9B$2.5B$22B3.8x
BranchUnited StatesSan Francisco, CAPrivate--$4B-
QontigoGermanyEschbornPrivate$208M-$3.5B16.6x
Shanghai DZHChinaChinaPublicly listed$124M($549K)$2.5B-
CapitolisUnited StatesUnited StatesPrivate--$1.6B-

PeopleFund Public Comps

PeopleFund is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Palantir, ServiceNow, RELX, Datadog, Strategy, Rocket Companies, Verisk Analytics, Wolters Kluwer, SoFi and Jio Financial Services.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Palantir$4.5B$1.5B84.1x47.6x258.7x77.6x
ServiceNow$13B$2.6B8.3x6.9x42.6x17.8x
RELX$13B$4.9B6.4x6.1x16.6x15.1x
Datadog$3.4B($588K)17.7x13.9x(103256.3x)53.1x
Strategy$477M($5.4B)143.5x137.6x(12.6x)(89.0x)
Rocket Companies$6.3B$1.4B6.8x4.1x31.6x16.4x
Verisk Analytics$3.1B$1.7B9.9x9.5x18.2x16.8x
Wolters Kluwer$6.9B$2.5B3.9x3.8x10.9x11.4x

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Common questions about PeopleFund

When was PeopleFund founded?PeopleFund was founded in 2015.
Where is PeopleFund headquartered?PeopleFund is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.
Is PeopleFund publicly listed?No, PeopleFund is a private, VC-backed company.
How much funding has PeopleFund raised?PeopleFund has raised $144M across 9 funding rounds.
What was PeopleFund's last funding round?PeopleFund's last funding round was a $20M Series C in January 2023, led by Bain Capital.
Who are PeopleFund's investors?PeopleFund's investors include 500 Global, D3 Jubilee, CLSA Capital Partners, DAYLI Financial Group, TBT Partners, Bain Capital, Wooshin Venture Investment, MORU Asset Management, Goldman Sachs, Kakao Pay and 6 others.
Which companies are comparable to PeopleFund?Companies comparable to PeopleFund include Verisk Analytics, Wolters Kluwer, Branch, Qontigo, Shanghai DZH and Capitolis.

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