Upgrade Valued at $6 Billion With $280 Million Round

<p><strong><span class&equals;"xn-location">SAN FRANCISCO<&sol;span><&sol;strong> &&num;8212&semi; Upgrade&comma; Inc&period;&comma; a fintech company that offers affordable and responsible credit and mobile banking to consumers&comma; has raised a <span class&equals;"xn-money">&dollar;280 million<&sol;span> Series F round at a <span class&equals;"xn-money">&dollar;6 billion<&sol;span> pre-money valuation&period; The round was led by Coatue Management and DST Global&period; Dragoneer Investment Group and existing investors including Gopher Asset Management&comma; G-Squared&comma; Koch Disruptive Technologies&comma; Old Well Partners&comma; Ribbit Capital&comma; Sands Capital&comma; Ventura Capital and Vy Capital also participated in the round&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Upgrade has delivered over <span class&equals;"xn-money">&dollar;10 billion<&sol;span> in credit to consumers through <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;c212&period;net&sol;c&sol;link&sol;&quest;t&equals;0&amp&semi;l&equals;en&amp&semi;o&equals;3359866-1&amp&semi;h&equals;2002576782&amp&semi;u&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;upgrade&period;com&percnt;2Fupgrade-card&percnt;2F&amp&semi;a&equals;cards" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow noopener">cards<&sol;a> and <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;c212&period;net&sol;c&sol;link&sol;&quest;t&equals;0&amp&semi;l&equals;en&amp&semi;o&equals;3359866-1&amp&semi;h&equals;697342185&amp&semi;u&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;upgrade&period;com&percnt;2Fpersonal-loans&percnt;2F&amp&semi;a&equals;loans" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow noopener">loans<&sol;a> since inception in 2017&period; It also offers <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;c212&period;net&sol;c&sol;link&sol;&quest;t&equals;0&amp&semi;l&equals;en&amp&semi;o&equals;3359866-1&amp&semi;h&equals;3872508257&amp&semi;u&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;upgrade&period;com&percnt;2Frewards-checking&percnt;2F&amp&semi;a&equals;Rewards&plus;Checking" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow noopener">Rewards Checking<&sol;a> accounts with debit cards that pay 2&percnt; rewards on everyday transactions and monthly subscriptions&period; Upgrade is headquartered in <span class&equals;"xn-location">San Francisco&comma; California<&sol;span>&comma; with an operations center in <span class&equals;"xn-location">Phoenix&comma; Arizona<&sol;span> and a technology center in <span class&equals;"xn-location">Montreal&comma; Canada<&sol;span>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Upgrade has raised over &dollar;600 million to date&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We are thrilled to partner with DST&comma; Coatue and Dragoneer&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said <span class&equals;"xn-person">Renaud Laplanche<&sol;span>&comma; co-founder and CEO of Upgrade&period; &&num;8220&semi;This new round comes just four months after our Series E and demonstrates Upgrade&&num;8217&semi;s rapid growth and commitment to delivering innovative financial products that benefit consumers&&num;8221&semi;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Upgrade was recognized as the fastest growing company in the Americas by the Financial Times earlier this year&comma; and <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;c212&period;net&sol;c&sol;link&sol;&quest;t&equals;0&amp&semi;l&equals;en&amp&semi;o&equals;3359866-1&amp&semi;h&equals;3323594256&amp&semi;u&equals;https&percnt;3A&percnt;2F&percnt;2Fwww&period;upgrade&period;com&percnt;2Fupgrade-card&percnt;2F&amp&semi;a&equals;Upgrade&plus;Card" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"nofollow noopener">Upgrade Card<&sol;a> was recently recognized by Nilson Report as the fastest growing credit card in America&comma; marking the first time a fintech company has appeared among the top 50 US credit card issuers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Upgrade Card promotes responsible credit by turning every balance into a fixed-rate installment plan&comma; and by paying rewards to cardholders as they pay down their balance&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Upgrade is an exciting example of a credit-led neobank&&num;8221&semi; said <span class&equals;"xn-person">Philippe Laffont<&sol;span>&comma; Founder and CEO of Coatue Management&period; &&num;8220&semi;Credit is a key component of banking and has been a major source of revenue for banks&period; We are excited by Upgrade&&num;8217&semi;s innovative credit products that we believe can help the company capture a significant share of the mobile banking market&&num;8221&semi;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Upgrade debuted a Rewards Checking account earlier this year that offers 2&percnt; cash back debit card rewards to consumers on common everyday expenses&period; The company also recently launched Upgrade Bitcoin Rewards Card&comma; a credit card that pays rewards in bitcoin rather than cash&comma; allowing consumers to enjoy the potential upside of bitcoin without putting their own money at risk upfront&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;