iPayment, Inc. has created a new business unit, iPayment Capital, to offer merchant cash advances; the new business unit will utilize the firm's 137,000 SMB customers for merchant cash advance lending; the service will add to payment processing and point of sale services currently offered by iPayment, Inc. Source
Funding Circle has rebranded with a new website and logo; the rebranding is centered around a focus on expansion and growth; in regards to the rebranding, Chief Marketing Officer Darryl Bowman said, "We are hugely passionate about helping thousands more businesses and investors across the world and today's rebrand is the next step on this journey."; since launching the firm has facilitated loans to 32,000 businesses and estimates it has helped support the creation of approximately 80,000 jobs. Source
OnDeck Capital beat earnings estimates and missed revenue estimates for the second quarter; revenue was $86.85 million, increasing 25% from the comparable quarter; earnings per share were $0.02, increasing from -$0.20 in the second quarter of 2016; loan originations decreased from $589.7 million in the second quarter of 2016 to $464.4 million in the second quarter of 2017; company reported success in acceleration to profitability; expanded online lending partnership with JPMorgan for up to four years; deBanked provides their perspective on the earnings release. Source
Short term small business lender Kabbage raised a $250 million Series F round from Japan's SoftBank, bringing their total equity funding to $500 million; according to TechCrunch, Kabbage CEO Rob Frohwein says the funding will be used to expand their US footprint, launch more analytical tools, expand into the Asian market and add new products; when talking with TechCrunch before the round was public, Rob explained the thought process behind going into new products like payments; Frohwein says: "Look at how PayPal and Square have both gone from being payments companies to small business lenders. There is a clear connection between how companies think about those two business areas, so it's not a giant leap of faith for us to consider this." Source
Growth Street has originated over $67.44 million since its launch in November 2016 with a new CEO and two new executive hires; the firm has now reported 600 new investors on the platform in the five months since its launch; Growth Street provides financing for UK SMEs; the short term financing options appear to be a factor attracting investors; the platform matches borrowers and lenders for 30 days and also allows investors to withdraw funds with notice of 30 days. Source
Orchard reports on the diversity of business lending, breaking lending down by industry and state using data from Orchard; reports that they have the most data on retail trade followed by health care and social assistance, and construction; shares the concentration of lending of several industries by state. Source
StreetShares has announced a $10.3 million fundraising; the US marketplace lender specializes in funding business loans to companies managed by veterans; the platform has a range of product offerings with loans issued for $2,000 to $100,000. Source
Fellow Finance is a Finnish P2P lender; the new offering will allow businesses to turn trade receivables into cash; invoices will be placed on the marketplace for investors; the loans will be offered in addition to traditional business loans; Jouni Hintikka, CEO of Fellow Finance, stated: "Financing a trade receivable is one of the easiest and most reasonable ways for companies to acquire working capital. By financing an invoice, a firm immediately receives its money, which accelerates money circulation and supports the growth of the business. The invoice finance service by Fellow Finance is technologically a forerunner compared to traditional services and operators in Europe." Source
UK invoice financing platform MarketInvoice reported a record day of transactions this week; the platform transacted GBP4.1 million ($5.38 million) in invoice advances to UK businesses; the firm's MarketInvoice Pro product has been a factor supporting increased lending volumes on the platform with the new product offering an open funding line for businesses. Source
Payments.com provides an overview of small business lending activity worldwide; SME lending in China increased 17% from a year ago to $3.2 trillion; in London, over half of small businesses report being turned down for a loan; other highlights include SME statistics for Canada, a new SME financing platform from NatWest and rising rates in the US affecting SME borrowers. Source