Fintech Lender Happy Money Hits Unicorn Status With $50 Million Raise

Pat Maio
Pat Maio has held various reporting and editorial management positions over the past 25 years, having specialized in business and government reporting. He has held reporting jobs with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Orange County Register, Dow Jones News and other newspapers in Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Fintech Lender Happy Money Hits Unicorn Status With $50 Million Raise
Photo by Pickawood on Unsplash

Happy Money, a fintech platform that helps borrowers refinance high-interest rate credit card debt, has claimed unicorn status, announcing $50 million in new funding.

Tustin-based Happy Money disclosed a Series D-1 round Tuesday led by London-based venture capital firm Anthemis Group and CMFG Ventures, the venture capital arm of Madison, Wis.-based mutual insurance company CUNA Mutual Group.


Happy Money CEO Jeff Winner.Photo courtesy of Happy Money

In turn, Happy Money pegged its pre-money valuation as $1.1 billion, which would put it among the ever-growing ranks of tech unicorns. The startup has raised a total of $135 million since its founding in 2009, according to a company spokesperson, with Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings among its existing investors.

Happy Money offers financial tools like its Payoff Loan product, which help borrowers consolidate and pay off unsecured debt. The 400-person company claims to have worked with more than 205,000 borrowers and helped fund $3.7 billion in loans through 2021.

The new funding comes after Happy Money appointed tech industry veteran Jeff Winner as its permanent CEO in November. Winner—who was given the job on an interim basis in August—previously held leadership roles at Twitter and Stripe and served as chief technology officer for Marcus, the consumer banking business of investment bank Goldman Sachs.

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