Banking Platform Oportun Gains $150M Secured Loan From Neuberger Berman

Mission-driven FinTech and digital banking platform Oportun Financial Corporation closed a $150 million senior secured term loan from funds managed or sub-advised by Neuberger Berman Specialty Finance.

“The capital provided by this loan will support the continued investment and growth in our business that we expect, even under the tighter credit underwriting criteria we have adopted in the current environment,” Oportun CFO Jonathan Coblentz said in a Thursday (Sept. 15) press release.

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“The loan proceeds will provide the capital and liquidity needed to support our future securitization and warehouse line financings, while this transaction once again validates the investment community’s confidence in Oportun’s business model and financial strength,” Coblentz added.

Jefferies LLC acted as financial advisor and sole arranger of the transaction and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP served as legal advisor to Oportun. The secured term loan is due in 2026.

“In extending this credit facility to Oportun, Neuberger Berman is prominently investing in a leading business focused on responsibly serving communities that have historically been overlooked and inadequately supported by mainstream financial institutions,” Neuberger Berman Managing Director Zhengyuan Lu said in the release.

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Headquartered in Silicon Valley and co-founded in 2005 by Gabriel Manjarrez, who was CEO until 2008, and James Gutierrez, who served as CEO through 2012, Oportun was initially founded as Progreso Financiero and was among the leading providers of unsecured loans to Latinos in the U.S. The company’s mission is to provide inclusive and affordable financial services and currently helps “over 1.8 million hardworking members meet their daily borrowing, savings, banking, and investing needs,” according to the release.

Listed on Nasdaq in 2019 under the ticker OPRT, Oportun is a digital banking platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Since its inception, it has extended more than $14 billion in credit and saved its members more than $2.3 billion in interest and fees, the company said.