Social Lending Website Provides an Alternative Way to Fund
Eco-Friendly Home Improvements
SAN FRANCISCO--(Business Wire)--
Prosper, America's largest people-to-people lending marketplace
with over 650,000 members and $130 million in funded loans, recently
conducted a survey of US consumers located in major metropolitan
regions.(1) According to the survey, consumers have a strong desire to
implement energy-saving home improvements, but stated that they are
deterred by the costly nature of these projects.
The vast majority of respondents (91%) care about conserving
natural resources, but 75% indicated that they are deterred from
implementing energy-saving home improvements, such as purchasing
energy-efficient appliances, insulation or solar energy panels, due to
high costs of implementation. A separate survey of Prosper's lender
community found that 93% of respondents would consider bidding on a
borrower's loan listing for the purpose of supporting a green
project.(2)
"In an increasingly environmentally-conscious world, US consumers
should be able to adopt an eco-friendly lifestyle in an affordable
way," said Chris Larsen, co-founder and CEO of Prosper. "With the
largest online community of individual lenders and attractive credit
quality borrowers, Prosper offers eco-conscious Americans an effective
way to meet their like-minded peers and fund green projects."
To access complete survey results, please visit
http://blog.prosper.com/2008/04/22/it-aint-easy-going-green/
About Prosper
Prosper (http://www.prosper.com), America's largest
people-to-people lending marketplace, was created to make consumer
lending more financially and socially rewarding for everyone.
Prosper's membership consists of over 650,000 people from across the
country. Since launching in February 2006, over $130 million in loans
have been funded in the marketplace.
The way Prosper works is intuitive to people who have used eBay.
Instead of listing and bidding on items, people list and bid on loans
using Prosper's online auction platform. People who want to borrow on
Prosper create loan listings for up to $25,000 and set the maximum
rate they are willing to pay a lender. People who register as Prosper
lenders set the minimum interest rate they are willing to earn and bid
in increments of $50 to $25,000 on loan listings they select. In
addition to criteria commonly used by institutional lenders, such as
credit scores and histories, Prosper lenders can consider borrowers'
personal stories, endorsements from friends, and group affiliations.
Once the auction ends, Prosper takes the bids with the lowest rates
and combines them into one simple loan to the borrower. Prosper
handles all on-going loan administration tasks including loan
repayment and collections on behalf of the matched borrowers and
lenders.
Prosper was co-founded by Chris Larsen, co-founder of E-LOAN, and
John Witchel, technology entrepreneur. Backed by Accel Partners,
Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Fidelity Ventures, Meritech Capital,
and Omidyar Network, Prosper has raised approximately $40 million.
Prosper's marketplace platform is patent pending.
(1) Survey conducted via Zoomerang in April 2008. The sample was
comprised of 574 US consumers based in New York, Boston, Chicago, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, and Phoenix.
(2) Survey conducted via the Prosper Lenders Newsletter in April
2008. The sample was comprised of 401 Prosper lenders.
LEWIS PR for Prosper
Bryan Pope, 415-992-4400
prosper@lewispr.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
