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Prosper

Fintech / lendingUSA
New to Unitard
βœ‚οΈ Markdown
PeakΒ $1.9 BillionToday
-71%
from peak
  1. πŸ¦„
    Became a unicorn
    Aug 2015
  2. πŸ“ˆ
    Peak valuation
    $1.9 Billion ’15
  3. πŸ’”
    Became a Unitard
    Sep 2017
  4. πŸ’Έ
    Last valuation
    ~$551M
Current status
Private Β· ~$550M

The rise & fall

6 moments Β· 2005–2024

The key moments, with employee sentiment along the way.

2005
Founded β€” America's first P2P lender
Chris Larsen's marketplace matches borrowers with ordinary people willing to fund their loans.
Wikipedia
Aug 2015
The peak: a $1.9B unicorn$1.9B
At the top of the online-lending boom, Prosper's valuation touches $1.9B β€” unicorn status and high-water mark in one.
Finovate
2016
The online-lending winter
Loan buyers pull back across the sector, volumes shrink, and Prosper cuts staff to ride it out.
Recode
Sep 2017
Down round: $550M
A new round slashes the valuation about 71% from peak β€” out of the unicorn club.
Recode
From the inside Β· Glassdoor reviews, 2018–24
In the years after the reset, Glassdoor reviews described a long belt-tightening: employees recounted a suspended 401(k) match and paused bonuses, periodic layoffs that left roles unfilled and workloads piling onto those who stayed, and steady departures of long-tenured staff as leadership bore down on costs.

πŸ’¬ entries paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor β†—; dated facts carry their source.

How it happened

Prosper is a peer-to-peer lending marketplace that reached a roughly $1.9B private valuation in 2015. After loan-volume and demand setbacks across the online-lending sector, it raised a down round in 2017 that slashed its valuation to about $550M (~-71% from peak), removing it from the unicorn club.

Source: Finovate/Recode; 2017 down round to $550M

Founders & leadership

  • David Kimball
    chairman & CEO
    Still there β€” Chairman and CEOLinkedIn β†—
  • Chris Larsen
    co-founder & CEO (had already co-founded E-Loan; later co-founded Ripple)
    No public profile matched
  • John Witchel
    co-founder & CTO (built America's first peer-to-peer lending marketplace)
    Now Chief Executive Officer at King EnergyLinkedIn β†—

Current roles as self-reported on LinkedIn, retrieved 2026-08-21. See our methodology.

Disclosed investors (28)

Historical funding participation; lists may be incomplete and do not establish current ownership or investor losses.

* Lead in a funding round Β· Crunchbase β†— Β· 2026-10-13 Β· Methodology Β· Leaderboard

More from the club

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