SoLo Funds

Market position

SoLo positions itself as a peer-to-peer alternative to payday and other high-cost short-term lenders and has been described as the largest Black-owned personal finance platform in the U.S. by downloads and registered users, and as the only certified B Corp lending company in the country. CNN Underscored editors rated it the best peer-to-peer lending app in July 2024. Comparable companies include SoMoLend, Fig, Lenme, and Social Lender.

Loans are funded by other individual members rather than an institutional lender, with borrowers setting their own terms and paying voluntary tips instead of interest, and no rollover fees or compound interest. Optional SoLo Lender Protection covers lenders against missed payments, and community reputation via the SoLo score substitutes for extensive credit history. The company emphasizes capital efficiency, stating it reached $100 million in revenue on $53 million raised, and holds B Corp certification.

Technology

The platform is a mobile-first marketplace supported by a SoLo score and repayment-history data used by lenders to assess requests, plus product and risk intelligence models the company says reduce risk and improve lending decisions and repayment performance. The SoLo Wallet provides account services and transaction controls, and SoLo IQ is an AI co-pilot delivering personalized budgeting, spending, and wealth-building guidance.

Go-to-market

Distribution is through consumer mobile apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play, marketed nationwide in the United States. The company states its growth has come primarily through organic adoption rather than paid customer acquisition, aided by a network effect in which each funded loan attracts additional users. It also publishes research, such as its annual Cash Poor Report produced with partners including Opinium Research, Pace University, the Global Black Economic Forum, the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, and the Independent Women's Forum, and has drawn visibility from CNBC's Disruptor 50 list and the Inc. 5000.

Everyday U.S. consumers who need small-dollar emergency or short-term credit and who are underserved by banks and credit cards, including people with limited or poor credit histories; the company reports that 82% of its members come from underserved zip codes and positions itself as an alternative to payday lending. Lenders are individual members seeking returns or social impact on disposable capital.

Geography

Operates across the United States and serves U.S. members only. Founded in New York City, the company was launched through the Hillman Accelerator in Cincinnati and relocated to Los Angeles in January 2019, where it is now headquartered.

History

SoLo Funds was founded in 2018 in New York City and launched through the Hillman Accelerator in Cincinnati; the full version of the app launched in April 2018 alongside a $1.2 million seed round led by QCA, after a closed iOS beta. In July 2018 the company was accepted into the Techstars Kansas City program, and in January 2019 it relocated from Cincinnati to Los Angeles. Later in 2019 the initial version of the company ran out of money and shut down; the founders relaunched in April 2020 with a revised product including lender protection, followed by rapid growth and a $10 million Series A in 2021. The company earned B Corp certification in November 2021, released the digital SoLo Wallet in April 2022, announced an investment including Serena Williams's Serena Ventures in 2023, launched the SoLo IQ AI tool in September 2025, and announced surpassing $100 million in cumulative revenue in August 2026.

Risks & controversies

The company's business model, which presents loans as interest-free with voluntary tips and donations, has drawn repeated regulatory challenges. In May 2023 SoLo settled regulatory cases in California, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C., over allegedly misleading consumers about interest rates and fees framed as tips and donations; it defended the model but paid penalties and agreed to disclose that tips and donations are voluntary. Maryland regulators raised similar allegations in December 2023. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued the company over its lending model in May 2024, and a federal judge denied SoLo's motion to dismiss in October 2024 before the CFPB dropped the suit in February 2025. In July 2024 Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced a settlement in the form of an assurance of voluntary compliance requiring a penalty and changes to business practices. The company also previously ran out of money and shut down its platform in 2019 before relaunching.