The controversial SoFi co-founder who got ousted and immediately built something even more ambitious. Figure's HELOC product genuinely works — 5-minute approvals instead of 45-day waits — and the Provenance blockchain is one of the only blockchain-in-finance projects that actually reduces costs. Whether blockchain becomes the backbone of financial infrastructure or remains niche is the $3.2 billion question.
Founded
2018
HQ
San Francisco, CA
Total Raised
$420M
Founder
Mike Cagney
Status
Private — valued at approximately $3.2 billion
Website
www.figure.comTHE ORIGIN STORY
Mike Cagney co-founded SoFi in 2011 and built it into a fintech giant before being forced out in 2017 amid sexual harassment allegations (which he denied). Rather than disappearing, he started Figure in 2018 with an even more ambitious thesis: use blockchain to reinvent every step of consumer lending.
The first product — a HELOC (home equity line of credit) that could be approved in 5 minutes and funded in 5 days — proved the technology worked. Traditional HELOCs take 30-45 days.
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO
Blockchain-powered lending and financial services. Figure uses its proprietary Provenance blockchain to originate, finance, and sell home equity loans — cutting the process from weeks to days.
Revenue comes from loan origination fees, blockchain transaction fees, and licensing the Provenance platform to other financial institutions. The blockchain isn't a gimmick — it genuinely reduces costs by eliminating intermediary steps in loan processing.
THE PRODUCTS
Figure HELOC (5-minute approval, 5-day funding home equity lines of credit), Figure Personal Loans, Provenance Blockchain (open-source financial infrastructure), and Figure Pay (digital payments). The Provenance blockchain has processed over $10 billion in financial transactions and is used by multiple banks and financial institutions.
HOW THEY GREW
Platform licensing. Figure's biggest growth lever isn't its own lending — it's licensing the Provenance blockchain to other financial institutions for loan origination, securitization, and asset management.
If Provenance becomes the infrastructure layer for financial transactions, Figure captures fees on trillions of dollars in activity. They've also expanded into personal loans and mortgage refinancing.
THE HARD PART
Proving that blockchain adds real value in finance, not just hype. Most blockchain-in-finance projects have been vaporware.
Figure had to demonstrate that Provenance actually reduces costs and speeds up processes versus traditional systems. The founder's controversial departure from SoFi also created reputational headwinds.
Convincing banks and institutional investors to trust blockchain-based assets required years of regulatory groundwork.
MONEY TRAIL
Series A
2018 · Led by DCM Ventures, Ribbit Capital, RPM Ventures
$50M raised
Series B
2019 · Led by Morgan Creek Digital, NYCA Partners
$103M raised
Series D
2021 · Led by 10T Holdings
$200M raised
WHO BACKED THEM
10T Holdings, Morgan Creek Digital, NYCA Partners, Ribbit Capital, DCM Ventures, and RPM Ventures have backed Figure across multiple rounds.
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