NEW YORK & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LendIt, the largest conference series dedicated to connecting the global online lending community, announced today that AutoFi won the 2016 PitchIt @ LendIt event. From over 90 quality applicants, 30 semi-finalists and eight finalists, AutoFi was selected for its potential to disrupt the $1 trillion auto finance industry. LogicFI, an end-to-end digital lending platform, won the PitchIt @ LendIt Audience Choice Award – given to the startup with the most audience votes at LendIt USA 2016.
PitchIt is online lending’s premiere startup competition. Eight finalists pitched their companies live on April 11 at LendIt USA 2016, the largest conference for online lending with over 3,500 attendees. The finalists presented to an esteemed panel of judges from the venture capital community: Frank Rotman, Founding Partner, QED Investors; David Weiden, Partner, Khosla Ventures; Nick Shalek, Partner, Ribbit Capital; Chris Bishko, Partner, Omidyar Technology Ventures; and Joe Chen, CEO, Renren.
Through a streamlined online interface, AutoFi allows consumers to quickly and easily finance online automobile purchases, providing a new-age alternative to the existing auto finance world. “Winning PitchIt @ LendIt is very exciting,” comments Jonathan Palan, President at AutoFi. “The whole process has been incredible. We had access to mentors who are some of the smartest people in the industry. Participating in PitchIt @ LendIt has opened up connections to and opportunities from top investors, technologists, media and potential partners that we couldn’t have gotten anywhere else.”
LogicFI empowers traditional financial institutions, such as banks and credit unions, with the tools, infrastructures and analytics necessary to compete in today's online lending market, allowing those institutions to lend more efficiently and provide a better user experience to their customers.
As winners, AutoFi and LogicFI are given exposure to the lending industry’s leading investors, analysts, financial firms and media. AutoFi is also awarded a complimentary bronze sponsorship package for LendIt USA 2017. PitchIt @ LendIt was open to early stage technology startups focused on innovation that lenders care about. Applicants were required to: 1) have a working prototype with customer interaction, 2) have secured less than $5 million in funding and 3) have at least two full-time founders.
“Each year, PitchIt @ LendIt surfaces incredible new startups who are changing the industry as we know it. At LendIt, our goal is to continuously push the lending industry in new and better ways and PitchIt is a crucial part of that vision,” said Jason Jones, Co-Founder of LendIt. “AutoFi is a great example of how technology delivers much-needed innovation into consumers’ daily lives.”
About LendIt
LendIt is the largest conference series dedicated to connecting the global online lending community. Our conferences bring together the leading lending platforms, investors, and service providers in our industry for unparalleled educational, networking, and business development opportunities. LendIt hosts three conferences annually: our flagship conference LendIt USA as well as LendIt Europe in London and LendIt China in Shanghai.
