Square Funded $339M to SMBs in Q1

Square’s small business funding arm, Square Capital, made over 50,000 business loans for a total of $339 million in Q1, according to the company’s latest earnings report. That figure is a 35% increase year-over-year and puts them on pace to break last year’s $1.177B total. OnDeck, by comparison, who is arguably their top rival, made $2.11B in business loans last year.

“[..] they just don’t have another way to get access to that sort of capital. And when they get it, they invest in their business,” Square CFO Sarah Friar, said of their merchants during the earnings call. “They’re buying inventory, they’re hiring new employees, they may be taking any lease hold and opening that second location. And when they do that, their business grows and hence our business grows. So, we still think we have a unique product that no one else can really follow us into.”

Square also earned $34 million in revenue from bitcoin, thanks to the Cash App they launched in January that allows users to buy and sell bitcoin. Bitcoin was mentioned an eye-opening 37 times in their quarterly shareholder letter, while their loan program is only referenced 7 times.

Overall, the company brought in $669 million in revenue and recorded a $24 million loss. They also entered into an agreement to buy Weebly, a company that helps people build professional websites and online stores.

“Weebly will expand Square’s customer base globally and add a new recurring revenue stream. Weebly has millions of customers and more than 625,000 paid subscribers,” the company wrote.