Virgin Money US (formerly CircleLending) was a peer-to-peer loans and loan-servicing company which was for a short time part of Virgin Money.
 The Virgin Money logo at the time of their US venture | |
| Virgin Money US | |
| Founder | Asheesh Advani |
| Defunct | November 2010 |
| Successor | May 2000 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States |
Area served | United States |
| Owner | Virgin USA (majority stake) |
History
editFoundation
editCircleLending was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in May 2000 by Asheesh Advani and launched in 2001.[1][2] The company was then incorporated as CircleLending, Inc. in July 2002.[3] In 2005 the company moved to Waltham, Massachusetts.[3] In 2006, the company received venture capital from Venrock Associates, Bezos Expeditions and Omidyar Network totalling $10 million.[3]
Acquisition by Virgin
editIn 2007, the Virgin Group acquired a majority-stake in the company and renamed it Virgin Money Holdings USA Inc., the American division of Virgin Money.[3][4] Virgin Money US focused solely on formalizing and servicing loans between friends and family, a business model which differentiated it from later social lending and crowdfunding businesses which encouraged loans between strangers.
In 2008 the company bought Lendia, and renamed it Virgin Money USA Inc., but sold it back to its founder, Greg O'Connor, the following year.[5] O'Connor's company, formerly Lendia, continues to operate as Clearpoint Funding, Inc.[6]
Closure and legacy
editFounder Advani left the company in 2009.[6] In 2010, during the financial crisis of 2007–2010, Virgin Money began its withdrawal from the US market.[7] Virgin Money US withdrew from the US market entirely in November 2010.[8] Servicing of its social loans was transferred to its servicing partner, Graystone Solutions, who continue to service the social loans under their own brand.
In 2010 a former Virgin Money US employee launched a new venture, National Family Mortgage, to address the intrafamily real estate loan void created by Virgin's departure.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Virgin Money USA, Inc". Business Exchange. BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
- ^ "'Thanks For The Mortgage Dad' Start-up - CircleLending Funded by Intel/Omidyar". Alarm:Clock. 15 August 2006. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Virgin Money History". Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Hendrickson, Mark (16 October 2007). "CircleLending Becomes Virgin Money USA; Gets Makeover and Millions in Funding". TechCrunch. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
- ^ "Virgin Money Closes Shop in the U.S., Victim of Bad Timing". American Banker. December 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ^ a b "U.K.'s Virgin Money Rewriting Its U.S. Plans". Bank Investment Consultant. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ^ "UK's Virgin Money rewriting its US plans". American Banker. January 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
- ^ "Virgin Money Closes Shop in the U.S., Victim of Bad Timing". American Banker. 2 December 2010.
- ^ "Making Mortgage Lending a Family Affair". New York Times. 5 November 2010.