As we look back at 2011, we wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on a successful year and especially to thank our many borrowers, investors and employees who made it all possible!

A record 21,721 loans for $257,363,650 were originated on the Lending Club platform during calendar 2011, more than double the $126,351,175 issued via 12,537 loans during calendar 2010!  (Lending Club’s fiscal year ends March 31^st.)  Through December 31^st, a total of $460,296,150 of personal loans have been originated since we commenced operations in 2007!

Who are some of the people who helped make 2011 a success?

• We welcomed more than 24,000 new investors who invested over $160,000,000 in Prime Consumer Notes.
• We now have 46 investors who have each invested $1,000,000 or more through our platform.
• 13,489 borrowers used Lending Club to consolidate their debts or pay off high interest credit cards – the most popular stated loan purposes in 2011.  We also helped 1,680 borrowers finance home improvements and 975 invest in a small business.

Our Prime Consumer Notes have now generated 18 consecutive quarters of positive returns and provided a Net Annualized Return by grade of between 5.82% to 12.15% depending on loan grades.*  Our notes generated $38,853,367 in interest for our investors, through December 31, 2011.  Diversification continues to be a simple and effective strategy for investors, as every single investor with 800 or more Notes purchased directly from Lending Club has experienced positive returns, and  91.97% of these investors have returns between 6% and 18%.**

To accomplish and support this dramatic growth, we significantly expanded our talented team throughout 2011.  Just 18 months after moving into our spacious Redwood City, CA headquarters, we found ourselves bursting at the seams and again relocated most of our employees to an even larger office in San Francisco’s Financial District.  We also opened an East Coast office for LC Advisors, our wholly-owned subsidiary focused on serving institutional investors.

Our strong performance last year did not go unnoticed.  In August, we were proud to announce a new equity investment of over $25 million in the Company, via a financing round lead by Union Square Ventures.  The following month we announced that Thomvest also participated in the round, as well as became the cornerstone investor in LC Advisor’s new Conservative Consumer Credit Fund.  We were also honored to be recognized for our growth and innovation with several prestigious awards, including being selected as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer and named to Forbes’ America’s Most Promising Companies List.

We’re tremendously proud of what we accomplished in 2011 and have exciting plans in store for 2012!

*  Prime Consumer Notes are fixed-income investments that generate monthly cash flow in the form of payments of principal and interest.  Net Annual Return of individual grades as of December 14, 2011.

** All data as of December 14, 2011.  Return calculations based on accounts that have invested in 800 or more unique borrowers for notes directly purchased from Lending Club.   To be included in the Net Annualized Returns calculation, a Note must be originated at least 3 months prior to the calculation date.  800 Notes can be purchased with $20,000. The availability of Notes/unique borrowers is dependent on your investment criteria. There is no guarantee that you will be able to invest in 800 or more Notes/unique borrowers promptly, if at all. The foregoing is not directed to the specific investment objectives, financial situation or investment needs of any particular person and should not be considered investment advice. You should consider reviewing the prospectus with a financial advisor prior to investing.

Past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Investments may lose value.

We’re proud to announce that this week Lending Club passed $400 million in total loan originations, less than four months after reaching $300 million. It’s hard to visualize such a large number, and we’ve had some fun kicking around ways to understand just how much money $400 million is—for example, it could buy 100 million gallons of gas (enough to drive from San Francisco to New York 1 million times!), 200 million Slurpees, or maybe 250 Lamborghini Reventons.

But in all seriousness, reaching $400 million is a big milestone for us, and an exciting way to move into the final months of what has been a tremendous year for Lending Club. Here are some of the highlights of the last few months:

• In August, we welcomed Union Square Ventures, known for its investments in companies like Twitter, Zynga and Foursquare, as an equity investor and partner.
• That same month, we attracted more than $30 million in new platform investment capital, announcing Peter J. Thomson as the anchor investor in LC Advisors’ Conservative Credit Fund.
• In September, we were awarded the World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer Award for our impact on how business and society operate.
• We expanded the LC Advisors team with the additions of Brad Pattelli, a former Angelo Gordon partner, and Jeff McCarthy, formerly of Jefferies & Company.
• Throughout 2011, loan originations have been growing by more than 150 percent year-over-year, and we’ve seen average month-over-month growth of 10 percent.

We’ve now paid investors $33,718,754 in interest as of November 2, 2011. Thanks for being a part of Lending Club. We’re thrilled to be joining with you to change the way the world thinks about borrowing and investing, and we can’t wait to celebrate the half-billion mark with you soon!

We’re thrilled to announce that Lending Club is one of 25 companies worldwide selected as a World Economic Forum 2012 Technology Pioneer!

The recognition by the World Economic Forum is a great validation of our model and our goal: to provide borrowers and investors a better alternative to the traditional lending (or bank lending) system. We are honored to be chosen alongside some of the most exciting technology companies in the world.

Beyond our excitement at our own selection, we were encouraged to see that two thirds of the companies chosen—18 out of 25, to be exact—are based in the U.S. What an optimistic statement on American innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit despite the lingering financial challenges we face as a country.

Robert Kennedy once said, “Some men look at things the way they are and ask why? I dream of things that are not and ask why not?” We’re honored to be numbered among those who are asking “why not?” Thanks for joining us as we redefine consumer credit—we look forward to innovating with you for years to come.

In accepting this award, our CEO, Renaud Laplanche, shared his thoughts about Lending Club’s place as a technology leader, and about what it means to be an innovator here:

Thanks for all of the submissions we received for our Wordless Wednesday contest! We'll be quiet now and let you take in our favorite entries:

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!