The fintech startup Octane, which provides instant financial solutions for large leisure and lifestyle products, has secured $100 million (approximately 1.44 trillion won) in Series F funding, with a company valuation recognized at $1.3 billion (approximately 1.872 trillion won). This round of financing was led by existing investor Valar Ventures, with participation from Upper90, Huntington National Bank, Camping World, Holler Classic Family, and others. Half of the investment amount consists of newly raised funds, while the remaining portion is in the form of old stock sales aimed at providing liquidity to existing shareholders and employees.
Founded in New York in 2014, Octane has completed over $242 million in financing to date, raising more than $4.7 billion in loans through asset securitization since 2019. This financing round comes against the backdrop of an expected total investment of $49.4 billion in the global fintech sector in 2025, injecting vitality into the entire industry. This figure represents a 30% increase compared to the $38 billion in the same period last year, 2024.
Octane initially started by providing point-of-sale financing for power sports products such as motorcycles, ATVs, and snowmobiles, and has since expanded its business to RVs, boats, lawnmowers, tractors, trailers, and the used car market. In particular, the company has evolved into a white-label lending platform model named "Captive-as-a-Service," enabling manufacturers and retailers to offer financial services under their own brands.
Octane co-founder and CEO Jason Gess explained the Captive platform: "It integrates technology, auditing, loan processing, and capital market operations into a unified platform," and "by allowing partners to operate their own financial products, it can achieve revenue diversification, enhance customer loyalty, and improve long-term enterprise value."
Octane is currently trading with over 4,000 dealers and partnering with more than 60 vehicle manufacturers. Pre-qualification credit products like Octane Prequal are also used as customer acquisition tools. CEO Gess emphasized: "Many venture capitalists try to categorize software as tech and loans as finance, but we believe that only by integrating these two functions can we achieve true differentiation and competitiveness."
Octane revealed that it has achieved net profits under GAAP standards in 2021, 2023, and 2024, and expects to achieve approximately $80 million (about 115.2 billion KRW) in adjusted EBITDA this year. To date, the cumulative loan scale has reached $7.5 billion (about 10.8 trillion KRW), with over $1.6 billion (about 2.3 trillion KRW) in loans issued just last year. This year's loan performance is expected to exceed $2.1 billion (about 3 trillion KRW).
Its profit model is also diversified. In addition to repayment interest, it generates revenue through platform fees charged at the time of loan issuance, promotional fees paid by financial institutions and sellers, loan sales and custodial fees, and performance-based fees. CEO Gess stated: "Loans themselves are not a bad thing; the problem lies in bad loans," adding that "healthy loans are one of the oldest and most stable business models."
James Fitzgerald, founding partner of lead investor Vala Capital, commented on Octane's technology-finance integration model as "unique," and looked ahead: "Not only in the existing market but also in the markets we will enter in the future, there is a possibility of long-term market share expansion." He added: "The most powerful lesson from the past 20 years is that the best tech companies can sustain growth far longer than we expect."
