History
The company was founded in 2012 by Australian entrepreneur Stephen Dash. Credible originated as a platform for refinancing student loans. Its online consumer loan marketplace has subsequently expanded to include loan origination, credit cards, personal loans, and mortgages.[5][6]
The company was incorporated in Delaware on November 20, 2012, as Stampede Labs Inc., before changing its name to Credible in December 2013.[7] The company has been headquartered in San Francisco since its founding. American investor Ron Suber sat as chairperson of Credible's board of directors between 2015 and 2019.[8] Australian businessman Alex Waislitz was an early investor.[9]
In December 2017, Credible Labs became a public company via an initial public offering on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). It was the year's largest technology IPO on the ASX, raising US$50million.[10] Dash chose the ASX because Credible's early investors were predominantly located in Australia and Asia and because they believed there was a relative scarcity of financial technology companies on the ASX as compared to the major American stock exchanges.[5][11]
In 2018, the company opened a second office in Durham, North Carolina, to expand its marketplace to mortgages. At launch, the company initially offered mortgage brokerage services in 20 states.[12][13] As of January 2021, it maintained active mortgage broker's licenses in 47 states through its subsidiary, Credible Operations, Inc.[14] By August 2019, Credible employed 135 people across its two offices.[15]
In October 2019, Fox Corporation acquired a 67-percent majority ownership stake in Credible for US$265million (equivalent to A$585million).[16][17][18] At first, the terms of the deal were questioned by earlier investors like Waislitz, who expressed concern that the acquisition would represent a "bargain" because he believed the company's valuation had the potential for rapid growth in the near future.[9][19] Nonetheless, Credible's stockholders unanimously voted to approve the acquisition on October 14.[20] As a result of the acquisition, Credible became a privately held company again and was delisted from the ASX.[21]
In December 2021, Credible acquired digital insurance platform Young Alfred, adding various kinds of insurance including home, auto, and pet to its platform.[22]
