Upstart

Company research

Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals

Updated Aug 5, 2026

Overview

Upstart Holdings, Inc. is a publicly traded financial-technology company operating an AI lending marketplace. It connects consumers with 100+ banks and credit unions whose lending decisions use Upstart’s AI models and cloud applications; Upstart generally earns platform, referral, and servicing fees rather than acting as the lender. The platform has facilitated more than $57 billion in originations and serves more than 4 million customers (company-reported, 2026).

Primary product

Upstart AI lending marketplace for personal loans, auto loans, home-equity lines of credit, and newer revolving/small-dollar credit products.

Founded

2012

Headquarters

San Mateo, California, United States (company materials in August 2026 also describe the company as based in Burlingame, California).

Team size

1,000–2,000

Work style

Remote

Industry

Financial services / financial technology

Sub-industry

AI-enabled consumer lending marketplace

Offices

San Mateo, California

Columbus, Ohio

Austin, Texas

New York, New York

Business model

B2B2C lending marketplace

Platform fees from lending partners

Referral fees

Servicing fees

Consumer loan marketplace

Capital-market and loan-funding partnerships

Funding

Stage

Public company; IPO completed in 2020

Total raised

$642.2M

Latest round

Post-IPO debt · Nov 2024

Post-IPO debt

Nov 2024

IPO

Dec 2020 · Public investors

$240.4M

Paycheck Protection Program loan

Apr 2020 · Paycheck Protection Program

$7.5M

Series D

Apr 2019 · Progressive Investment Company

$50M

Series C extension

Mar 2017 · Rakuten

Series C

Jul 2015 · Third Point Ventures

$35M

Series B

Jan 2014 · Khosla Ventures

Series A

Apr 2013 · First Round Capital

$5.9M

Seed / initial financing

Aug 2012

$1.8M

People & investors

Leadership

Paul Gu

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (effective May 1, 2026); previously CTO

Dave Girouard

Co-founder and Executive Chairman; previously CEO

Anna Counselman

Co-founder

Sanjay Datta

President and Chief Capital Officer

Andrea Blankmeyer

Chief Financial Officer

Grant Schneider

Chief Technology Officer

Founders

Andy Palmer

Co-founder (listed by Crunchbase)

Investors

Blue Ivy Ventures

First National Bank of Omaha

First Round Capital

Green D Ventures

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan

Work & culture

Digital-first and largely remote, with intentional in-person moments, team offsites, onboarding, and company gatherings. The careers site emphasizes trust, curiosity, ownership, accessible leadership, open metrics, meaningful work, and financial inclusion.

Work style

Remote

Compensation

Public materials signal competitive base pay, bonuses, equity from the first day or annual equity grants, and a broad financial-benefits package. Specific salary bands and sponsorship terms vary by role and were not established here.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with 2:1 matching

Employee stock purchase plan

Equity grants / annual equity

Paid parental leave

Fertility and family-care benefits

Flexible paid time off and holidays

Wellness and personal-development stipends

Home-office and productivity allowance

Learning and development programs

Income-protection coverage

Financial planning support

Team events and employee resource groups

Product & market

Pricing

Borrowers typically receive loan offers with lender-set interest rates and fees; Upstart monetizes partner transactions through platform, referral, and servicing fees. Exact consumer pricing is individualized by loan, lender, and credit profile.

Differentiators

—AI underwriting using 2,500+ variables and a large repayment-event dataset
—Potentially broader approval and lower rates than conventional FICO-only underwriting
—More than 90% of loans fully automated
—Multi-product marketplace spanning unsecured and secured credit
—Distribution to 100+ banks and credit unions
—Digital-first borrower experience
—Quarterly fairness testing and responsible-AI positioning

Technology

Artificial intelligence and machine learning

Cloud applications

Automated underwriting

Distributed inference

MLOps

PyTorch

Apache Spark

Kafka

AWS

Docker

Kubernetes

Scala

Java

Python

TypeScript

React

gRPC

protobuf

Flask

Ruby

Customers

Consumers / borrowers

Banks

Credit unions

Auto dealerships and automotive finance partners

Institutional loan purchasers and private-credit investors

Competitors

SoFi

LendingClub

LendingTree

Upgrade

Prosper

Avant

Traditional banks and credit unions

FICO-based conventional underwriting providers

Scale & contact

Estimated revenue

Approximately $1.0B–$1.5B annual revenue; company guidance for FY2026 is approximately $1.4B.

Signals & risks

Layoff

Nov 2022

Eliminated approximately 140 hourly positions, about 7% of the workforce, citing a challenging economy and reduced platform loan volume.

Source

Layoff

Jan 2023

Implemented a reorganization reducing the workforce by approximately 20%, or 365 employees, amid funding constraints; suspended development of the small-business loan product.

Source

Layoff

Sep 2024

Additional initiatives reduced the workforce by approximately 10% during the nine months ended September 30, 2024.

Source

Other

Jul 2026

Received conditional OCC approval to establish Upstart Bank; transition creates execution, regulatory, capital, and credit-risk exposure.

Source

Other

Jan 2026

Material business risks include dependence on third-party funding and a limited group of lending partners, macroeconomic and credit deterioration, model error, and financial-services regulation.

Source

Latest news

Upstart Loan Originations Jump 50% as It Preps Bank Launch

PYMNTS · Aug 2026

Covered Q2 performance, the planned Upstart Bank launch, and the company’s shift toward a broader consumer relationship.

Upstart Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results

Upstart Investor Relations · Aug 2026

Reported Q2 2026 results, 50% year-over-year originations growth, return to GAAP profitability, and reiterated approximately $1.4B FY2026 revenue guidance.

Upstart’s AI upgrades pay off as a pickup in loan growth helps send the stock higher

MarketWatch / Morningstar · Aug 2026

Reported $365M Q2 revenue, AI model improvements, stronger personal lending, and continued home and auto expansion.

Upstart Announces Multi-Year $4 Billion Forward Flow Agreement with Castlelake

Upstart Investor Relations · Jul 2026

Announced that Castlelake-managed funds may purchase up to $4B of consumer loans over as long as 24 months.

Upstart Announces Leadership Evolution

Upstart Investor Relations · Feb 2026

Announced Paul Gu’s CEO succession, Dave Girouard’s move to Executive Chairman, and leadership changes involving Sanjay Datta, Andrea Blankmeyer, and Grant Schneider.

Careers Company website Engineering / careers blog GitHub organization Investor relations Leadership LinkedIn company page Press Team / company story X / Twitter

SourcesUpstart official site Upstart company story Upstart careers and benefits 2025 Form 10-K Leadership evolution Crunchbase profile Built In company profile

Jobs and careers at Upstart

89 jobs at Upstart

Operations Manager, Auto

On-site

Operations Department

Columbus, OH, USA; Columbus, Ohio, United States

Today

On-site

Full-time