In a world where traditional banks still rely on FICO scores from the 1980s, Upstart has built a $634M revenue machine by asking a simple question: what if your creditworthiness isn't defined by a 3-digit number? The answer is a lending platform that uses AI to approve 27% more borrowers than legacy models while cutting default rates by 16%—a formula that's turning the entire credit industry on its head.

"Upstart doesn't just approve more loans—it approves the right loans, at the right price, for people legacy systems rejected."

The company's tech stack reveals their priorities: Cloudflare for security, Bootstrap for rapid iteration, and Cloudflare Turnstile for bot protection. But the real magic happens behind the scenes. Founded by Dave Girouard (former Google exec) and Paul Gu, Upstart's AI models ingest thousands of data points beyond FICO—education, employment history, even the device you're applying from—to make lending decisions in seconds. This isn't incremental improvement; it's a complete reimagining of risk assessment.

• 67% direct traffic indicates powerful brand recall and repeat usage
• 4.9/5 rating from 60K+ reviews suggests exceptional customer experience
• AI-driven approvals increase loan volume by 27% vs. traditional models
• 1,741 employees generating $634M in revenue ($364K per employee)