Lendbuzz gains $100M warehouse facility through MUFG
Lendbuzz announced on Tuesday that it has closed a $100 million credit facility with MUFG.
The fintech company that tries to help consumers obtain better access to credit when purchasing a vehicle said additional warehouse capacity will fuel its continued financing origination growth.
The development arrived about a month after the 2023 Emerging 8 honoree closed a $100 million warehouse facility with Mizuho Americas.
The expansion increases Lendbuzz’s capacity and ability to grow the number of borrowers its proprietary AI-based auto finance platform serves.
Executives explained the platform enables Lendbuzz to continue to focus on assessing the creditworthiness of consumers across the credit spectrum, many of whom are underserved by traditional banks and offering its consumers a modern, digital lending experience.
Lendbuzz claimed this group includes individuals with no credit, thin credit, and near prime, and accounts for more than 40% of the adult U.S. population.
“This expansion further strengthens our funding capabilities and ability to execute our strategic growth plans,” Lendbuzz chief financial officer George Sclavos said in a news release. “MUFG has been a long-standing partner to Lendbuzz, and we are excited for this opportunity to deepen the relationship. It demonstrates the confidence our partners have in Lendbuzz and our continued focus on exceptional underwriting and credit decisioning.”
MUFG Innovation Partners Co. (MUIP), a corporate venture capital fund and a wholly owned subsidiary of MUFG, invested in Lendbuzz in 2021.
“We invested in Lendbuzz to support their mission to bring AI-powered auto financing to the underserved and we are excited to expand our partnership,” said Mayank Shiromani, deputy chief investment officer at MUIP.
Meanwhile, Lendbuzz also cheered the closing of a $100 million warehouse facility with Mizuho Americas, which was announced on May 1.
“We are excited to partner with Mizuho, further expanding and diversifying our sources of committed capital,” Sclavos said in another news release. “We look forward to continuing to grow our relationship with a global bank such as Mizuho as a trusted advisor and important provider of capital.”
Diane Ferguson, head of financial institutions, investment and corporate banking at Mizuho Americas, added in the news release, “Mizuho is proud to support Lendbuzz in financing its strategic growth by providing new pools of capital to fund its loan operations. We are honored to add market leader Lendbuzz to the ranks of our client roster.”