Renaud Laplanche on Building Upgrade to a $7.3Bn Giant, Reinventing the Credit Card, and Shipping AI-Native Products

Renaud Laplanche on Building Upgrade to a $7.3Bn Giant, Reinventing the Credit Card, and Shipping AI-Native Products

From Fintech Leaders by Miguel Armaza

April 30, 2026 · 41 min · Episode 201

About this episode

Miguel Armaza interviews Renaud Laplanche about his journey in fintech, including the success of Upgrade and the evolution of credit products.

Send us Fan Mail I sat down with Renaud Laplanche, Co-Founder and CEO of Upgrade, a consumer fintech valued at $7.3 billion. Since 2017, Upgrade has originated over $45 billion in credit to 7.5 million customers, crossed $1 billion in annualized revenue, and has been cash flow positive for years. Renaud also founded Lending Club and took it public in what was the largest US tech IPO of 2014. He is one of the most accomplished entrepreneurs in fintech and someone I personally admire. We discus...

People in this episode

Host: Miguel Armaza

Guest: Renaud Laplanche

Topics covered

  • fintech
  • credit cards
  • entrepreneurship
  • AI products
  • business growth

Keywords

  • Upgrade
  • Renaud Laplanche
  • fintech
  • credit
  • AI
  • entrepreneurship
  • Lending Club

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Upgrade, Lending Club

More episodes of Fintech Leaders

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Fintech Leaders podcast page.