When was Earnest founded?

Earnest was founded in 2013 and raised its 1st funding round 1 year after it was founded.

Where is Earnest located?

Earnest is headquartered in San Francisco, United States. It is registered at San Francisco, California.

How many employees does Earnest have?

As of Jun 30, 2026, the latest employee count at Earnest is 382.

Is Earnest a funded company?

Earnest is a funded company, having raised a total of $107M across 4 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a $***** Series A round, raised on May 20, 2014.

When was the latest funding round of Earnest?

Earnest's latest funding was a $***** Conventional Debt round on Nov 17, 2015, with participation from 1 investor.

Where does Earnest rank among its competitors?

Earnest ranks 6th amongst 474 active competitors, of which 28 are funded. It stands 8th in terms of total funding among its competitors. The most recent competitor to raise funding was LendingPoint, which secured an undisclosed amount in Nov, 2025.

Who are the top competitors of Earnest?

Earnest's top competitors include SoFi, Moneylion and Best Egg. Among them, LendingPoint secured the most recent funding round in November, 2025.

Earnest - 2026 Company Profile, Team, Funding & Competitors

Q: Is Earnest an acquired company?

Earnest got acquired by Navient on Nov 03, 2017.

Company Details

Earnest is a direct lender providing student loan refinancing and personal loans. Student loans ranging from $5K to $5M can be refinanced by students as well as parents with interest rates starting from 2.75% APR. Loans are offered to students graduated from Title IV accredited schools who are employed currently. Earnest offers both fixed and variable interest loans and claims to generate average savings of $21K through refinancing. Earnest looks beyond credit score and evaluates a person’s full education, employment, and financial profile. Earnest also offers personal loans up to $50K with fixed interest rates starting at 5.25% APR.

Website: www.earnest.com/
Social
Registered Address: San Francisco, California

Key Metrics

Founded Year

2013

Location

San Francisco, United States

Stage

Acquired

Total Funding

$107M in 4 rounds

Latest Funding Round

Conventional Debt, Nov 17, 2015, $*****

Investors

Battery Ventures & 25 more

Ranked

6^th among 474 active competitors

Employee Count

382 as on Jun 30, 2026

Similar Companies

SoFi & 609 more

Exit Details

Acquired by Navient (Nov 03, 2017)

View Earnest's full profile

Earnest is associated with 1 legal entity given below:

Legal Entity Name	Date of Incorporation	Revenue	Latest Employee Count	Documents
EARNEST INC CIN: 463184587 , United States, Active	Dec 26, 999	-	237 (As on Dec 31, 2024)	-

Earnest got acquired by Navient on Nov 03, 2017 at an acquisition amount of $*****.

Click here to take a look at Earnest's acquisition in detail

Earnest has raised a total funding of $107M over 4 rounds. Its first funding round was on May 20, 2014. Its latest funding round was a Conventional Debt round on Nov 17, 2015 for $*****. 1 investor participated in its latest round. Earnest has 25 institutional investors and 1 angel investor.

Here is the list of recent funding rounds of Earnest:

Filter this list

Date of Funding	Funding Amount	Round Name	Post-Money Valuation	Revenue Multiple	Lead Investors	Other Investors
Nov 17, 2015	2487538	Conventional Debt	7067088	2284487	7630591	6365025
Nov 17, 2015	5455731	Series B	6719723	3496894	6618221	Adams Street Partners & 2 more
Jan 27, 2015	1801070	Series A	2012613	9449596	7677881	Maveron & 4 more

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View details of Earnest's funding rounds and investors

The founders of Earnest is Louis Beryl.

Here are the details of Earnest's key team members:

Louis Beryl: Former Co-Founder of Earnest and founder of 1 other company. They are also an angel investor in 14 startups.

View details of Earnest's Founder profiles and Board Members

Earnest's employee count trend

Earnest has 382 employees as of Jun 26. Here is Earnest's employee count trend over the years:

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Top competitors of Earnest include SoFi, Moneylion and Best Egg. Here is the list of Top 10 competitors of Earnest, ranked by Tracxn score:

Rank	Company Details	Short Description	Total Funding	Investors	Tracxn Score
1st	SoFi 2011, San Francisco (United States), Public	Online bank offering consumer loans and insurances	$3.04B	Renren, Baseline Ventures & 76 others	87/100
2nd	Moneylion 2013, Sandy (United States), Acquired	Online platform for instant consumer loans and mobile banking	$268M	Edison Partners, Greenspring Associates & 20 others	82/100
3rd	Best Egg 2000, Wilmington (United States), Acquired	Online platform for personal loans	$300M	Invus, Hoopp & 3 others	78/100
4th	Avant 2012, Chicago (United States), Series E	Online platform for consumer loans	$905M	August Capital, Tiger Global Management & 27 others	77/100
5th	Upgrade 2016, San Francisco (United States), Series G	Provider of consumer credit and banking products	$750M	CreditEase, FirstMark & 42 others	73/100
6th	Earnest 2013, San Francisco (United States), Acquired	Direct lender for student loan refinancing and personal loans	$107M	Adams Street Partners, Cross Creek & 24 others	72/100
7th	LendingPoint 2014, Atlanta (United States), Series B	Personal loans provider offering financial solutions with proprietary technology and AI	$325M	MidCap Financial, Apollo Investment Corporation ... & 5 others	71/100
8th	Oportun 2005, Menlo Park (United States), Public	Online platform for consumer loans	$204M	Fidelity Investments, CRV & 17 others	68/100
9th	Atlanticus Holdings 1996, Atlanta (United States), Public	Provider of credit cards for individuals and businesses	-	UBS, TowerBrook & 1 others	67/100
10th	OppFi 2009, Chicago (United States), Public	Online marketplace for consumer loans	-	FG Ventures, Atalaya Capital Management	62/100