Fintech Investment VC

Khosla Ventures Leads $150M Series D for Fintech Firm Imprint

• ByStartupStory     |    December 19, 2025

Fintech platform Imprint has raised $150 million in a Series D funding round led by Khosla Ventures, pushing its valuation to $5.2 billion and fueling expansion of its embedded financing and loyalty solutions for enterprise brands.

Series D Powers Embedded Finance Scale

The oversubscribed round includes participation from existing backers like Thrive Capital, Coatue, and Kleiner Perkins, alongside new strategic investors from retail and payments sectors. Total funding now exceeds $400 million since Imprint’s 2020 founding. Proceeds target international markets, engineering hires for AI-driven credit models, and partnerships with Fortune 500 retailers seeking white-label financing stacks.

Founded by ex-Stripe and Square executives, Imprint powers “shop now, pay later” (BNPL), subscription management, and rewards programs directly within brand apps and websites. Its API-first platform handles underwriting, fraud detection, and collections, enabling non-financial companies to launch credit products in weeks rather than years.

Dominating Embedded Lending Landscape

Imprint processes $2 billion+ in annual loan volume across 100+ enterprise clients, including major e-commerce and subscription brands. Key differentiators include real-time credit decisions using alternative data (purchase history, social signals), 99.9% approval automation, and dynamic pricing that maximizes merchant revenue while controlling defaults below 2%.

The platform’s “Imprint Intelligence” layer leverages ML for personalized offers—bundling BNPL with loyalty points or upsell financing—driving 30% average order value lifts. Unlike Affirm or Klarna’s consumer-facing apps, Imprint stays invisible, embedding seamlessly into Shopify, Salesforce, and custom checkouts.

Strategic Deployment of Capital

Funds prioritize four growth vectors:

• Global Rollout: EU and APAC launches compliant with PSD3 and local regs, targeting high-growth markets like India and Brazil.

• AI Underwriting: Generative models for scenario planning and churn prediction, reducing losses 40%.

• Vertical Expansion: B2B invoicing and trade credit for SaaS/merchants, plus embedded insurance.

• Team Build: 150 hires in product, risk, and sales to service $10B GMV target by 2027.

Imprint eyes profitability in 2026, with 60% gross margins from interchange, interest, and SaaS fees.

Moats in Competitive Fintech Arena

Rivals like Stripe Billing and Adyen chase payments adjacency, but Imprint owns end-to-end lending with proprietary risk engines trained on 50 million+ transactions. Network effects lock in merchants via data flywheels, while capital-light model (securitizing loans to banks) scales infinitely.

Challenges: Regulatory scrutiny on BNPL debt, economic downturns spiking defaults. Imprint counters with conservative LTVs and recession-tested portfolios.

Tailwinds: Consumer Credit Shift

US BNPL volumes hit $50 billion in 2025, with embedded finance capturing 40% as brands avoid credit card fees (3-5%). Economic recovery boosts discretionary spending, while Apple’s financing push validates the model. Khosla’s thesis: Imprint as “Stripe for credit,” democratizing lending like APIs did payments.

Path to Decacorn

Success metrics: $5B ARR, 1,000 enterprise clients, 20% global BNPL share. Horizons include IPO or acquisition by JPMorgan/Visa. Imprint redefines commerce financing—invisible rails powering seamless purchases in a $1 trillion opportunity.

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