Upgrade expects about $700 million in revenue this year

Upgrade, a lending and credit card startup, is looking to hire hundreds over the next year and expects to grow revenue by about 75% in 2022, CEO Renaud LaPlanche tells Axios.

Why he matters: LaPlanche is a sector veteran and the company raised $280 million in funding at a $6.3 billion valuation in November from investors like Coatue Management and DST Global.

This conversation has been edited in places for clarity.

It's been nearly a year since you last raised funding. Are you thinking of doing so again soon?

• This environment is not great. Right now, we'd probably raise at around the same valuation because we've grown, but valuations have come down. We have $500 million in cash.
• I think we would probably do another around at some point in the future when the environment gets better.