A little-known startup just grabbed a $180 million valuation from Goldman Sachs and American Express to be the ‘Google Flights’ of digital lending (EVEN Financial)

Even Financial, a New York-based financial-technology startup founded in 2015, on Wednesday announced a $25 million strategic investment led by Citi Ventures, with Goldman Sachs and American Express chipping in as well, among other backers.

The company, which has now raised $50 million in total, declined to comment on its valuation, but sources familiar with the deal say the investment values the startup at $180 million.

Even commanded that rich price tag from investors for creating a platform that acts as a digital matchmaker between financial institutions and customers hunting for their services in an increasingly disparate array of venues across the internet.

Cofounder and CEO Phillip Rosen likes to court comparisons to ITA, the flight-software company that created a data-driven marketplace for the airline industry and has been used by airfare search engines from the Delta and United websites to Orbitz and Kayak. Before ITA, which was bought by Google in 2010 for $700 million and now powers Google Flights, people were often at the mercy of travel agents — an almost unimaginable scenario for many today.

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