Are you familiar with Wordless Wednesday? On Wednesdays all over the Internet, bloggers post a photograph with no words to explain it. The idea is that the photo itself says so much that it requires no further description or explanation.

Sounds like a great idea to us, so we're holding our own little Wordless Wednesday competition for images that best demonstrate how Lending Club is revolutionizing borrowing and investing. We'd love to see your photos, drawings, or even doodles on cocktail napkins that best show what we do and our small contribution to making the world a better place. This is your chance to contribute your awesome photo or artwork to help Lending Club convey the services and value that we strive to provide.

Remember, just one key rule: Your submission needs to be wordless. No text, not even our logo. (It needs to be your own original creation, too.) The top three submissions will receive an awesome Lending Club schwag bag. We'll post the best submissions on our blog next Wednesday, and you may also find your creation proudly displayed in some very public places.

Please send your photos, artwork, or scribbles to marketing@lendingclub.com by Monday, August 22 @ noon PST. (Note that by making a submission you authorize us to use your creation in both online and offline public venues.) The lucky winners will be announced Tuesday.

We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Great news today – Lending Club has a fantastic new equity investor and partner in USV (Union Square Ventures), one of the top venture capital firms in the country and an investor in some great companies like Twitter, Zynga and Foursquare. You can hear from Fred Wilson and John Buttrick on why they chose to invest in us. While we weren’t actively looking for new investors, this partnership and capital will allow us to accelerate our pace of innovation and growth and to add more value to both our borrowers and investors. Our existing venture investors, including Canaan Partners, Foundation Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures, and Norwest Venture Partners all participated in the round as well.

In addition to reading our official press release you can get more details from The Wall Street Journal and TechCrunch.

Lending Club just keeps on growing, and we're looking for innovative, driven, and talented people to grow our fantastic team. We're located in the heart of downtown San Francisco, a few paces away from the Montgomery Station BART, the much Yelped-about Off-the-Grid food cart gatherings, and many a MUNI stop. If you're looking to join a dynamic and exciting team, climb aboard as we embark on the next new phase of growth and expansion.

Lending Club is the leading online platform that enables the issuance of and investment in prime consumer notes. Lending Club brings together investors and creditworthy borrowers – eliminating the cost and complexity of traditional lending – to offer borrowers better rates and investors better returns. Founded in 2006 and based in San Francisco, CA, Lending Club has been recognized for its growth and innovation by the Harvard Business Review, JMP Securities and AlwaysOn.

• Director of Online Business Development
• Vice President of Business Development
• Senior Web Designer
• Product Marketing Manager, Retail Investing
• Lead Software Engineer
• Director of Public Relations and Marketing Communications

Plus, we're also seeking paid contributors to our blog (the one you're reading right now!) To apply, send us a brief email describing why you'd like to write for Lending Club and include links to two writing samples (no attachments please) to blog@lendingclub.com.