Who is Avant? - About us

Life at Avant.

Your challenging, new experience begins at Avant. If you’re driven, talented and passionate about your work, let’s chat.

Laughter and tech-chats are just a few things you’ll hear at our offices. At our downtown Chicago headquarters and Tennessee Operations Center, we’re close to diverse restaurants, transportation and residential living.

Our Values

We value, support and help our employees grow and are committed to a culture of active inclusion and diversity. We believe our success is measured by the success of our customers.

Culture

We love to stay connected. We stay connected through town halls, demo days, and team outings.

Extras

Enjoy great benefits, like 401k matching, discounted gym membership, flexible work hours, a challenging work environment, and more!

A forward-thinking engineering culture.

We look to solve hard problems.

Build Fast

We believe that the best process is iterative and we want to get products in front of customers fast.

Learning & Growing

We encourage continual learning, continual improvement, continual iteration of all things. Our employees attend, present, and support conferences and local user groups.

Agile Teams

At Avant, we work in flat, well balanced teams. Each team has a mix of skill levels and talents to complete projects quickly. Trying new ideas is encouraged since we aim to be a leader in the lending industry.

Timeline

December 2012: John and Paul complete Y-Combinator and join forces with Al to revolutionize online lending.
February 2013: Avant issues its first loan and raises $1 million in seed funding.
May 2013: Avant has 28 employees, and raises a Series A round of $8 million.
May 2013: $25 million debt facility was raised from Victory Park Capital.
August 2013: Avant has 90 employees, and has raised more than $30 million.
October 2013: Avant has been launched in the UK.
April 2014: After growing to 120 employees, Avant raises a Series C round of $75 million.
July 2014: Avant closes $200M in debt financing with Victory Park Capital.
August 2014: Avant closes $200M in debt financing with Jefferies.
December 2014: Avant closes Series D round of $225 million with Tiger Global, August Capital, DFJ Growth, RRE Ventures, KKR and Peter Thiel.
January 2015: Forbes lists AvantCredit as #6 on “America’s Most Promising Companies” list.
March 2015: AvantCredit rebrands to Avant. Avant acquires debt management tool Ready For Zero and opens LA office.
April 2015: Avant launches the Avant Institutional Marketplace in a $400M financing arrangement with KKR, Jefferies and Victory Park Capital.
May 2015: Avant reaches $1 billion in loan originations milestone.
June 2015: CEO Al Goldstein is named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Midwest winner and Avant announces a 2016 headquarters move to Chicago Loop.
August 2015: Avant closes $200M debt facility with JP Morgan and Credit Suisse. First Asset Backed Securitization is secured with Jefferies.
October 2015: Avant closes Series E round of $325 million with General Atlantic, Balyasny Asset Management, J.P. Morgan, Tiger Global, and August Capital.
January 2016: Avant moves into global headquarters.
February 2016: Avant platform reaches $3 billion in loan originations.
April 2016: Sheila Bair joins Avant’s Board of Directors.
September 2016: AvantCredit receives FCA authorization in the UK.
October 2016: Avant launches bank partnership with Regions Bank.
December 2016: Grant Miles joins Avant as Chief Risk Officer.
January 2017: Avant joins Marketplace Lending Association (MLA).
February 2017: Pitchbook names Avant as the #5 fastest startup to reach a $2 billion valuation.
April 2017: Avant closes ABS Deal led by JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley.
December 2017: Avant opens Tennessee operations center.

We love what we do. Over 600,000 customers have been helped by transparent & convenient personal loans.

Avant is built from a team of passionate Chicagoans looking to change the online lending industry. Starting in 2012, our mission is to lower the barriers and costs of borrowing.

Life at Avant.

Your challenging, new experience begins at Avant. If you’re driven, talented and passionate about your work, let’s chat.

Laughter and tech-chats are just a few things you’ll hear at our offices. At our downtown Chicago headquarters and Tennessee Operations Center, we’re close to diverse restaurants, transportation and residential living.

Our Values

Culture

Extras

500+

$1.8 billion

$4.0 billion

2

600,000+

Analytics driven management.

Raising the bar for the lending industry.

Al Goldstein

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Paul Zhang

Co-Founder & Chief Architect

Adam Hughes

President & Chief Operating Officer

Suk Shah

Chief Financial Officer

Grant Miles

Chief Risk Officer

Robert Reynolds

Chief Technology Officer

James Paris

EVP of Capital Markets and Corporate Development

Karoline Andris

Chief Compliance Officer

Ryan McLennan

General Counsel

Shyama Rose

Chief Information & Security Officer

Campbell Gibson

VP of Public Policy

Chris Armsey

Senior VP of People

Kevin Lewis

VP of Business Development

Bhanu Arora

VP of Analytics

Charles Whittaker

VP of Product

Matt Bochenek

VP of Operations

A forward-thinking engineering culture.

We look to solve hard problems.

Build Fast

Learning & Growing

Agile Teams

Flexible Schedules

Politics

Work-Life Balance

Timeline

Investors

Your challenging, new experience begins at Avant. If you’re driven, talented and passionate about your work, let’s chat.

We love what we do. Over 600,000
customers have been helped
by transparent & convenient
personal loans.

^$1.8 billion

^$4.0 billion