Canadian Small Business Lender Looks Doomed In Wake of COVID-19

As well-known (1, 2) small business lenders in the United States continue to negotiate COVID-19 era workouts with their creditors, another in Canada appears to be falling off the cliff.

On Thursday, Lendified’s President & Director Kevin Clark tendered his resignation effective July 3rd. He follows other board members Edward Kelterborn and Benjy Katchen whose resignations went into effect on June 25th. Company CFO Norman Tan previously resigned on June 9th and no replacement has been named.

COVID-19’s arrival came at a difficult time for Lendified. Before COVID, the company had never turned a profit or reported positive cashflow in its entire history.

“Lendified is in default in respect of credit facilities with its secured lenders. Forbearance and standstill agreements are being discussed with these senior lenders, with none indicating to date that any enforcement action is expected although each is in a position to do so,” the company said. “However, no formal agreements in this regard have been concluded as of the date hereof.”

The company expressed that it would not be able to continue operations if it was not able to finalize a forbearance on its defaults AND simultaneously obtain an immediate infusion of capital to fund its operations.

Lendified’s board of directors is presently considering selling its assets or its entire business in order to raise revenue.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Lendified, Judi.ai, an automated loan underwriting platform, is poised to cease operations as a result of a cashflow shortfall. “[Judi.ai] requires cash infusions in the amount of approximately $100,000 per month in order to maintain operations,” Lendified reported. “Its cash reserves at this time are approximately $80,000. At this time, the Company is not in a position to continue to fund the Business and there can be no assurances that it will be able to do so in the future.”

The company went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange on May 26th via a reverse merger and has since experienced a 95% drop in its share price. The company’s market cap on Monday hovered around $700,000 USD.

Sean Murray is the President and Chief Editor of deBanked and the founder of the Broker Fair Conference. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on twitter. You can view all future deBanked events here.