Insikt’s Lending-As-A-Service Pushes Loans At Checkout

San Francisco startup Insikt has brought in another $16 million in funding to grow its “lending as a service” business, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday (Dec. 9).

Revolution Ventures led the Series B investment round, along with Jefferies and Atalaya Capital Management and current investors Firstmark Capital and Serengeti Asset Management. The round brings the 2012 startup’s funding to $24.5 million, but Insikt has also nailed down more than $70 million in credit facilities from Atalaya Capital Management, Capital One, Northeast Bank and Silicon Valley Bank to handle loans that Insikt is making.

It works like this: Instead of a peer-to-peer-style lending marketplace, Insikt provides software to retailers, banks and other businesses whose customers may need financing. Those brands can then offer small loans to their consumers, including “instant financing” at checkout.

While merchants provide the customers, Insikt handles the details of actually providing the loans, which go on Insikt’s balance sheet for the first few months of their existence, funded by the credit facilities.

After each brand has its own portfolio, all the brand’s investments will be pooled together and issued as bonds to investors. That allows Insikt to diversify where their money goes, while allowing consumers with low credit scores (or no credit history) to get an installment plan for their purchases, TechCrunch said.