Credible

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.

The company was incorporated in Delaware on November 20, 2012, as Stampede Labs Inc., before changing its name to Credible in December 2013. 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. Australian businessman Alex Waislitz was an early investor.

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$50 million. 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.

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. As of January 2021, it maintained active mortgage broker's licenses in 47 states through its subsidiary, Credible Operations, Inc. By August 2019, Credible employed 135 people across its two offices.

In October 2019, Fox Corporation acquired a 67-percent majority ownership stake in Credible for US$265 million (equivalent to A$585 million). 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. Nonetheless, Credible's stockholders unanimously voted to approve the acquisition on October 14. As a result of the acquisition, Credible became a privately held company again and was delisted from the ASX.