Affirm Holdings, Inc.
Company History
Affirm History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 2012 in San Francisco, California
When was Affirm founded?
Affirm was founded in 2012 in San Francisco, California by Max Levchin, Nathan Gettings, Jeffrey Kaditz and Alex Rampell, making it 14 years old.
- Founded
- 2012
- Founding place
- San Francisco, California
- Founders
- Max Levchin, Nathan Gettings, Jeffrey Kaditz and Alex Rampell
- Headquarters today
- San Francisco, California
- Milestones documented
- 12 (2012–2024)
- Current CEO
- Max Levchin
- Acquisitions
- 3
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2012 | Affirm Founded |
| 2016 | Sweep Acquired |
| 2019 | Walmart Partnership |
| 2019 | $300 Million Series F |
| 2020 | $500 Million Series G |
| 2020 | Shopify Partnership |
| 2021 | PayBright Acquisition Completed |
| 2021 | Nasdaq IPO |
| 2021 | Returnly Acquisition Completed |
| 2021 | Amazon Partnership |
| 2023 | Affirm Card Launch |
| 2024 | United Kingdom Launch |
- Where was Affirm founded?
- Affirm was founded in San Francisco, California in 2012.
- When did Affirm come out?
- Affirm was founded in 2012. The first launch in its timeline is dated 2023: Affirm Card Launch.
- Who founded Affirm?
- Affirm was founded by Max Levchin, Nathan Gettings, Jeffrey Kaditz and Alex Rampell.
- How old is Affirm?
- Affirm is 14 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Affirm was founded in 2012 by Max Levchin, Nathan Gettings, Jeffrey Kaditz, and Alex Rampell. Following his success as a co-founder of PayPal, Levchin wanted to build a modern financial network that avoided the deceptive late fees and compounding interest of traditional credit cards. Affirm launched its core 'Buy Now, Pay Later' (BNPL) product to provide transparent, fixed-schedule microloans at the point of sale, rapidly gaining traction by integrating directly into massive e-commerce checkouts.
Founders
Max Levchin
Max Levchin (born 1975) is a highly influential Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor. After helping build the foundational infrastructure of the modern digital payments industry at PayPal, he founded Affirm to challenge traditional credit card networks. As CEO, he has guided Affirm through a massive IPO and secured exclusive partnerships with retail giants like Amazon and Walmart. Max Levchin was born in 1975.
Nathan Gettings
Nathan Gettings co-founded Affirm, bringing immense expertise in massive-scale data analytics and risk modeling from his time building Palantir's core anti-fraud systems. He helped architect Affirm's initial proprietary underwriting algorithms before departing the company. Nathan Dale Gettings was co-founder and chief technology officer of Palantir Technologies and co-founder and chief executive of RoboteX. At Affirm he served as chief risk officer. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Jeffrey Kaditz
Jeffrey Kaditz co-founded Affirm and served as its first Chief Technology Officer. He led the initial engineering team that built the original BNPL infrastructure and API integrations for early merchant partners before leaving to found the health-tech startup Q Bio. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Alex Rampell
Alex Rampell co-founded Affirm based on his deep understanding of point-of-sale financing and merchant networks. He helped shape the company's early go-to-market strategy before transitioning his focus to venture capital as a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Key Milestones
Affirm Founded
Max Levchin, Nathan Gettings, Jeffrey Kaditz, and Alex Rampell founded Affirm as part of the HVF startup studio.
Source: cnbc.comSweep Acquired
Affirm acquired the technology, staff, and assets of personal-finance app Sweep; terms were not disclosed.
Source: businesswire.comWalmart Partnership
Affirm began offering installment financing to Walmart customers online and in stores.
Source: cdn1.affirm.com$300 Million Series F
Affirm announced a $300 million Series F funding round led by Thrive Capital.
Source: affirm.com$500 Million Series G
Affirm raised a $500 million Series G and said it had raised more than $1.3 billion from investors to date.
Source: investors.affirm.comShopify Partnership
Shopify selected Affirm to power Shop Pay Installments in the United States.
Source: affirm.comPayBright Acquisition Completed
Affirm completed its acquisition of Canadian BNPL provider PayBright after announcing consideration of approximately $245 million (C$340 million).
Source: affirm.comNasdaq IPO
Affirm sold 24.6 million Class A shares at $49 each in its initial public offering and began trading on Nasdaq under AFRM.
Source: investors.affirm.comReturnly Acquisition Completed
Affirm completed its approximately $300 million acquisition of online returns and post-purchase payments provider Returnly.
Source: affirm.comAmazon Partnership
Affirm began testing pay-over-time options for eligible Amazon.com purchases in the United States.
Source: affirm.comAffirm Card Launch
Affirm launched its debit card with pay-in-full and pay-over-time functionality.
Source: investors.affirm.comUnited Kingdom Launch
Affirm launched its pay-over-time products in the United Kingdom, its first market outside the United States and Canada.
Source: investors.affirm.comMajor Acquisitions
Returnly
2021Affirm acquired online returns and post-purchase payments provider Returnly to expand merchant services beyond checkout.
PayBright
2021Affirm completed its acquisition of Canadian buy now, pay later provider PayBright in January 2021. The announced consideration was approximately $245 million (C$340 million) in cash and equity; no USD value is recorded here because the deal was reported in Canadian dollars.
Sweep
2016Affirm acquired the technology, staff, and assets of personal-finance app Sweep as part of an expansion beyond point-of-sale financing. Terms were not disclosed.
Keep researching Affirm
Affirm Company History FAQ
What are the defining historical milestones for Affirm?
Key milestones include Affirm's 2012 founding, the 2016 Sweep acquisition, 2019 Walmart partnership, 2020 Shopify partnership and Series G, 2021 PayBright and Returnly acquisitions and Nasdaq IPO, the Amazon partnership, the 2023 Affirm Card launch, and the 2024 UK launch.
When did Affirm sign its landmark multi-year partnership with Amazon?
In August 2021, Affirm partnered with Amazon to become the exclusive third-party Buy Now, Pay Later provider integrated into Amazon checkout in the United States.
How did the 2020 Shopify agreement transform Affirm's merchant distribution?
In July 2020, Shopify selected Affirm as its exclusive U.S. partner for Shop Pay Installments, granting Affirm immediate access to hundreds of thousands of high-growth e-commerce merchants.
When did Affirm launch the physical Affirm Card?
Affirm announced plans for the card in 2021 and launched Affirm Card broadly in 2023 as a debit card that supports pay-in-full and pay-over-time options for eligible purchases.
How did Affirm handle the 2022 to 2023 macroeconomic interest rate shock?
Affirm responded to higher rates by adjusting pricing and underwriting and by reducing its workforce by 19% in February 2023. Its filings continued to identify funding costs and credit performance as material risks.
When was Affirm integrated natively into Apple Pay?
In June 2024, Apple announced that Affirm would be integrated directly into Apple Pay with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, allowing users to select Affirm installment plans directly inside the Apple Pay sheet.
How has Affirm's consumer base grown from 2018 to today?
Affirm's FY2025 impact report cited about 23 million active consumers. In FY2026, the network processed $50.2 billion of GMV; GMV is transaction value, not revenue.
What is Affirm's long-term vision for modern consumer finance?
Affirm describes its mission as delivering honest financial products that improve lives, with transaction-level underwriting, upfront terms, and no late fees.
When was Affirm founded?
Affirm was founded in 2012 in San Francisco as a modern, transparent alternative to predatory credit card debt.
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