Figure Lending shifts to new operational umbrella

Figure Lending LLC is now operating under the umbrella of Figure Technology Solutions, independent of CEO Mike Cagney’s Figure Technologies. 

Figure Technology Solutions will focus on developing and distributing its proprietary, technology-enabled platform to partners and investors in the home equity lending ecosystem, the fintech firm announced earlier this week.

The launch of Figure Technology Solutions comes a few months after Bloomberg reported that Figure Technologies was working with multiple investment banks — including  Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. — to take its lending division, LendCo, public. 

In November, Bloomberg reported that LendCo, which was valued between $2 billion and $3 billion, was expected to go public in the first half of 2024, citing people familiar with the matter. 

Figure didn’t respond to requests for comment on its stance about taking the firm public, its correlation between LendCo and Figure Lending LLC, or the reasons for Figure Lending choosing to operate under a new umbrella brand. 

Figure Technologies launched a wholesale lending platform in June 2023 that gives loan originators access to the company’s home equity line of credit (HELOC) offering.

CMG Financial, CrossCountry Mortgage, Fairway Independent Mortgage and The Loan Store are Figure’s private-label partners.

Figure posted HELOC originations of more than $8 billion as of February 2024 and served at least 100,000 households across the country, according to its website. 

Founded in 2018 by Cagney, the former head of SoFi, Figure uses proprietary platform Provenance Blockchain for loan origination, equity management, private fund services, banking and payments.

Figure announced its plans in 2022 to go public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Figure Acquisition Corp.

But a combination of higher interest rates and rising redemption rates — which point to how many investors are exchanging their shares to get their money back — made it an unfavorable environment for SPACs, which led to the delisting of Figure Acquisition Corp from the New York Stock Exchange in December 2022.