The “Uber of mortgage lending” has raised $3.8 million in funding

Privlo Inc., an online provider of real estate loans, raised $350 million in debt and $3.8 million in equity to expand in the U.S. The Los Angeles-based company said it raised the equity from Spark Capital and QED Investors and declined to name the debt provider. Privlo, which has 28 employees, plans to double its workforce by the end of the year, said founder and Chief Executive Officer Michael Slavin, who declined to comment on the company’s valuation. “We’re really excited to do something meaningful for the economy, providing liquidity to an important segment of the housing market,” he said. While it’s atypical for technology startups to raise as much debt as Privlo is doing, the debt is key for the company to be able to make loans. The startup, which began in 2010 as a peer-to-peer lender, has since evolved to providing mortgages to borrowers who aren’t eligible for traditional bank loans. Privlo has so far done 100 mortgages of about $200,000 at rates of 6 to 8 percent, compared with other lenders that charge 10 to 15 percent, said Slavin. The startup is tapping into a market worth $250 billion annually, or $1 trillion including so-called jumbo loans, he said. Privlo said it has developed software to evaluate borrowers’ risk, which enables it to close mortgages in weeks instead of months. Slavin, 35, grew up in a family of real estate investors and previously worked in real estate private equity. He said he got the idea to start Privlo after the 2008 financial crisis left many high-quality borrowers, such as the self employed, uncovered by traditional lenders.