Pigeon
Defunct4 known investors
Pigeon was an app that facilitated loans between friends and family.
Also known as Pigeon Loans · Pigeon Loans, Inc. · usepigeon.io
Investors · 4
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Pigeon (Pigeon Loans, Inc.) operated a relationship-based technology platform that let individuals create and manage loans between friends, family, loved ones and others who trust one another. The product covered the loan lifecycle for interpersonal lending, including loan creation, payment activity and record-keeping, with historical loan data accessible to account holders and exportable by users.
The company was founded in 2020 and took part in Y Combinator's Winter 2022 batch, and was categorized under fintech, consumer and legal technology. Its founders were Brian Bristol, who served as CEO, and Kaben Clauson. The company was based in Miami, Florida, with a listed team size of five.
Pigeon launched a consumer app in early 2023 and drew press coverage on interpersonal and family lending. In August 2025 the company announced its closure: new loan creation and payment activity ended on September 1, 2025, the platform entered a 90-day read-only mode for data export, and it was permanently shut down after December 1, 2025, with accounts and data archived and deleted. The pigeonloans.io site now hosts an archival memorial covering the 2020-2025 period, including a timeline, press coverage and an archive of the company's blog.
Founding story
The company was founded in 2020 by Brian Bristol and Kaben Clauson and was accepted into Y Combinator's Winter 2022 batch.
Business model
Pigeon operated a consumer software platform for interpersonal loans, offering a free tier alongside premium subscriptions billed on a recurring basis.
Recurring premium subscription fees from users; at closure, recurring billing for premium users was canceled and refunds were not issued, per the company's returns and cancellations policy.
Traction
The company stated it supported more than 125,000 users and facilitated over $50,000,000 in loans over its lifetime.
Latest developments
On August 1, 2025 founder and CEO Brian Bristol announced the closure of Pigeon Loans, Inc., setting September 1, 2025 as the end of new loan creation and payment activity, a 90-day read-only period for data export, and permanent shutdown with data deletion after December 1, 2025. The company's website now serves as an archive of the business, its press coverage and its blog.
▸Full profile — market position, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Pigeon positioned itself in the interpersonal or relationship-based lending segment of consumer fintech, receiving coverage from outlets including PYMNTS and Andscape around its 2023 app launch.
Go-to-market
Individuals lending to or borrowing from friends, family, loved ones and other people they trust.
Geography
Headquartered in Miami, Florida, United States.
History
Founded in 2020, Pigeon joined Y Combinator's Winter 2022 batch and launched its app to simplify interpersonal finance in January 2023. Over roughly five years it supported lending and borrowing among friends and family before announcing closure on August 1, 2025; the platform stopped supporting new loans and payments on September 1, 2025 and was permanently shut down after December 1, 2025.
Risks & controversies
The company cited financial dissolution as the reason it could not process refunds of premium fees at shutdown, and users were given a limited window to export loan data before all accounts and data were archived and deleted.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsAfter December 1, 2025 the Pigeon platform was permanently shut down and all user accounts and data were archived and deleted.
Founder and CEO Brian Bristol announced the closure of Pigeon Loans, Inc., with new loan creation and payment activity ending September 1, 2025, a 90-day read-only period for data export, and permanent shutdown of the platform after December 1, 2025.
Pigeon debuted a personal loan app for lending between friends and family, covered by PYMNTS and other outlets.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Pigeonpigeonloans.io · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Pigeon do?
- Pigeon was a fintech platform for creating and managing loans between friends, family and other trusted parties; it shut down in 2025.
- Who are Pigeon's investors?
- Pigeon's investors include MPG Fund, 305 Ventures, FundersClub, Pareto Holdings.