Virgin Money US

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.

Virgin Money Holdings USA Inc.
Virgin Money US
FoundedCambridge, Massachusetts (May 2000 (2000-05))
FounderAsheesh Advani
DefunctNovember 2010 (2010-11)
Area served
United States
OwnerVirgin USA (majority stake)

History

Foundation

CircleLending 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

In 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

Founder 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
  1. "Virgin Money USA, Inc". Business Exchange. BusinessWeek. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  2. "'Thanks For The Mortgage Dad' Start-up - CircleLending Funded by Intel/Omidyar". Alarm:Clock. 15 August 2006. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. Hendrickson, Mark (16 October 2007). "CircleLending Becomes Virgin Money USA; Gets Makeover and Millions in Funding". TechCrunch. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  5. "Virgin Money Closes Shop in the U.S., Victim of Bad Timing". American Banker. December 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  6. "U.K.'s Virgin Money Rewriting Its U.S. Plans". Bank Investment Consultant. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  7. "UK's Virgin Money rewriting its US plans". American Banker. January 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  8. "Virgin Money Closes Shop in the U.S., Victim of Bad Timing". American Banker. 2 December 2010.
  9. "Making Mortgage Lending a Family Affair". New York Times. 5 November 2010.
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