Archive for 2021
Aquila Services Inc. Has Ceased Operations
September 9, 2021Aquila Services Inc, a data-driven small business cash flow management platform, ceased operations sometime early last year, deBanked has learned. The company had been trying to pivot even before the pandemic began. CEO and Founder Taariq Lewis, who had spoken about AI and machine learning at some length to us in 2018, updated the company’s website with the bad news.
Aquila is now closed for business and we have shut down our servers after a three year run. Thanks to all our 9,688 customers and our many investors for allowing us to provide cash flow analysis for small businesses.
If you are seeking business funding, please be sure to check our partners at Rapid Finance, Credibly, Kabbage, and others for access to capital and please check with Home Depot for discounts on construction equipment.
Lewis is now listed as a co-founder of UniFi DAO, according to LinkedIn.
Derek Jeter Joins Athletes Looking to Cash in with NFTs
September 7, 2021
The trendiest merch in tech has made its way into the world of professional sports and entertainment, as professional athletes have begun selling NFTs. DraftKings Marketplace already offers several tiers of NFTs from Tom Brady, Simone Biles, and Wayne Gretzky—some of which are valued at over $167,000. Jeter’s NFT will be dropped Tuesday afternoon in two separate bids.
“We are excited to bring this special Derek Jeter offering exclusively to our DraftKings Marketplace customers, and believe it will have a place in history as our first digital baseball collectable drop,” said Matthew Kalish, co-founder and President of DraftKings North America to deBanked. “There has been such a strong and positive response from our community around the iconic athlete drops so far, and Derek Jeter, the iconic Yankees superstar and soon-to-be Hall of Famer, will be no different. We look forward to seeing thousands of collectors add to their digital collections this week on DraftKings Marketplace.”
Alongside age requirements specific to the state in which the purchase takes place in, potential buyers must also have a verified DraftKings account with all of the terms and conditions agreed upon.
Hosted by the NFT platform Autograph, Jeter is one of the many athletes that sits on the board of the company. Co-Founded by Brady, all the athletes that have had NFTs sold through DraftKings thus far are the board of advisors for Autograph.
With a reliance on live events, merchandise, and sponsorships with brands to engage with millions of viewers, the NFT market is an interesting platform for athletes to take the trading card to the digital space, while also opening up another avenue of revenue outside the arena.
“As the world becomes more comfortable with digital ownership and collection, we see an incredible opportunity to bring users high-quality and personalized content from their favorite athletes, artists and franchises,” said Dillon Rosenblatt, Founder and CEO, Autograph. “NFTs are the perfect medium to connect users to both the things they love and those who share those interests, and we want to leverage today’s incredible partnerships to provide continued value to our community.”
Autograph has also teamed up with Lionsgate to develop NFTs with their most successful films, continuing their push to develop a marketplace of purely entertainment-based NFTs.
A source at DraftKings was able to confirm that more athletes are going to be releasing NFTs on the platform within the next couple of weeks.
El Salvador Becomes First Bitcoin Nation as 70% of Country Remains Unbanked
September 7, 2021
With over $20 million in Bitcoin, the El Salvadorian government is set to put the basis of their already crumbling economy on the back of the world’s most sought-after cryptocurrency. President Naykib Bukele took to Twitter over the weekend to boast about his country’s unprecedented economic shift in a time when 70% of residents lack access to traditional financial services.
In a country where roughly half of its population has no internet access, the government has released a state-sponsored app (called Chivo Wallet) that will allow its citizens to buy goods using Bitcoin the government owns. Mostly dominated by the US Dollar, the local economies of El Salvador will now be forced to accept Bitcoin as legal currency.
Each citizen who uses Chivo will be given $30 worth of Bitcoin to jumpstart the spending.
Buying the dip 😉
150 new coins added.#BitcoinDay #BTC🇸🇻
— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) September 7, 2021
The move has faced backlash from all different types of groups including economists, politicians, and investors. The world is watching to see if this shift in currency will help pull the country out of its troubles, or if it is more public relations posturing — at the expense of the El Salvadorian economy.
The United States top official in El Salvador, Jean Manes, referred to the nation at a press conference Saturday as “a democracy in decline” as the move is just one of a handful of that technically increase the power of the federal government in the small country. Manes compared Bukele to the likes of Hugo Chávez, using his notoriety with the population to cover up a strategic economic collapse and dismantling of democracy.
The El Salvadorian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The value of Bitcoin dropped by 15% against the US dollar on the day of its debut.
Knight Capital Technology to Play Continuing SBA Loan Role at Ready Capital Corporation
September 7, 2021
Ever since Ready Capital’s name arrived on the big stage for its leading role in the nation’s PPP lending, the company has continued to be very active in small business lending. They completed round 2 of the PPP program with $2.2B in loans to more than 72,000 small businesses. For comparison’s sake, that’s twice what PayPal contributed, who provided $1B to 43,000 businesses.
Ready Capital is the #1 non-bank in the nation in 7(a) SBA loan originations this year so far, according to John Moser, President of the company’s SBA lending division, and is #7 in the entire SBA lending industry nationwide.
Some of the technology behind their success can be attributed to Knight Capital, the company Ready acquired back in 2019. Knight has enabled the company to roll out offerings of SBA loans under $350,000, which it is using to grow its already impressive marketshare.
Speaking about Knight, Ready Capital CEO Thomas Capasse said in the Q2 earnings call, the “[Knight] investment will be levered into more technology affinity-based expansion of the SBA business.”
Overall, the company is optimistic. “Ready Capital is off to a strong start in 2021,” Capasse said during the call. “We have accomplished much in the first quarter of the year with our small balance commercial or SBC, CRE lending operations and Small Business Administration or SBA 7(a) lending businesses, posting record originations, including high volume in round two of the Paycheck Protection Program or PPP.”
Knight’s merchant cash advance business is combined with its small business lending division for quarterly reporting purposes so its individual stats are not easily ascertainable. The company still touts “same day business funding” on its website.
SEC Charges BitConnect With $2B Crypto Fraud
September 6, 2021
The SEC filed an action against BitConnect last week, accusing two of the firm’s executives for defrauding retail investors by offering a digital asset investment program — while fudging the numbers. The company is accused of cheating investors out of an estimated $2 billion.
“We allege that these defendants stole billions of dollars from retail investors around the world by exploiting their interest in digital assets,” said Lara Shalov Mehraban, Associate Regional Director of SEC’s New York Regional Office. “We will aggressively pursue and hold accountable those who engage in misconduct in the digital asset space.”
Stemming from a civil case in May, Bitconnect founder Satish Kumbhani is accused of lying about his company’s profits while also violating registration laws that are put in place to protect investors. The charges also extend to Glenn Arcaro and his firm Future Money Ltd, as they’re accused of receiving fraudulent commissions from BitConnect of up to $24 million for acting as their promoter.
According to the SEC, investors were told that BitConnect used a “volatility software trading bot” that promised returns of 40% per month while also being shown false returns depicting 3,700% annualized gains. The commission called BitConnect’s actions a “textbook Ponzi scheme” where they are being accused of paying old investors with new investor money.
Arcaro appeared before a judge last Wednesday, pleading guilty to a related criminal wire fraud conspiracy charge in California. He is to be sentenced on November 15. Kumbhani, an Indian citizen, is reportedly a fugitive.
According to the SEC’s report, two of the five promoters have already settled in a related action for promoting the BitConnect offering. The commission has also obtained judgments that require promoters Michael Noble, Joshua Jeppesen, and Jeppesen’s fiancé to pay over $3.5 million and 190 bitcoin.
The complaints seek injunctive relief, disgorgement plus interest, and civil penalties.
In internet pop culture, BitConnect achieved “meme status” in 2017 when an investor went wild at a BitConnect conference, was captured on video, and was viewed half a million times on youtube. He was not personally named in the SEC complaint.
Iwoca Brings Flexible Repayment Loan Product to Funding Xchange
September 3, 2021
Iwoca, a UK-based small business lender, announced Wednesday that it will be launching a new flexible loan product for online sellers through Funding Xchange. According to Iwoca, they will be the first lender in the UK using “open banking” for revenue-based payments to online businesses on the marketplace.
Small businesses in the UK operating in e-commerce can now apply for revenue-based financing between £1,000- £50,001 through Funding Xchange’s website. The loans will have monthly payments based on the borrower’s revenue, but will also allow businesses to choose repayment options that are based upon their daily ups and downs, allowing the borrower different payment amounts during times of slow business, seasonal disruptions, or other factors that may cause business to halt during certain times of the year.
“Our vision is to provide finance to SMEs when, where and how they need it. We are transforming small business lending through product innovation powered by technology, combined with creative distribution partnerships,” said Christoph Rieche, co-founder and CEO of Iwoca in a company release.
Iwoca has a history of being on the front line of innovation in lending, as they claim to be the first UK company to provide instant credit decisions with Amazon and eBay sellers. The company also claims to be the first company to offer a lending API in their services, while also taking credit for being the first SME lender to connect the 9 largest banks in the UK with open banking.
“Iwoca and Funding XChange are leaders in the use of intelligent technology to make SME funding more accessible, more affordable and more sustainable. By transforming the credit-assessment and cost-to-serve, we deliver targeted, self-serve propositions to underserved segments,” said Katrin Herring, CEO of Funding Xchange in the same release. “Given the challenges that the crisis has created for small businesses, this partnership is delivering critical access to finance to help businesses rebuild and flourish.”
MJ Capital Funding CEO Pleads The Fifth in Response to SEC’s Lawsuit
September 2, 2021
The CEO of MJ Capital Funding, the Florida-based finance company accused by the SEC of being a ponzi scheme, formally lodged an answer to the lawsuit on Thursday. In it, her attorneys state that she has no choice but to assert her Fifth Amendment rights on the basis that a parallel federal criminal investigation is currently being conducted, but “that no negative inference should be drawn from her exercise” of these rights.
Notably, her lawyers say that she might change her mind later if she believes it is appropriate to do so, which would include an event that “she obtains immunity from the US Attorney […] or otherwise receives appropriate safeguards to protect her against criminal prosecution.”
That’s the substance of the response, which at this stage would only require that a defendant admit or deny a list of itemized facts stated by the plaintiff.
More than 2,800 people have come out in support of the accused CEO via a petition on change.org.
A court hearing is scheduled for September 8th at 1:30pm ET via Zoom. Update 9/8: the hearing has been cancelled.
Funding Circle Gets in to Buy-Now-Pay-Later (In UK)
September 2, 2021
Funding Circle is joining one of the trendiest markets in the industry right now, Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL). The company will provide its customers with a way to spread supplier payments or invoice costs over 90 days by providing the capital upfront and allowing the borrower to pay later.
It has been dubbed FlexiPay by the UK-based lender and will enable access to between £3,000 – £50,000 of upfront capital. Loan eligibility will be determined in minutes and the funds will be available almost instantaneously, according to Funding Circle. This combination of small business lending with BNPL services is seemingly unprecedented to the industry.
“We are really excited to be using our market-leading technology to launch FlexiPay, which is designed to support small businesses to manage and control their cash flow,” said Lisa Jacobs, the Europe Managing Director of Funding Circle. “The new product enables businesses to buy now and pay later on any business spend in a way that suits them.”
The payment option will give access to “interest-free” financing to borrowers with a flat fee of 3% per invoice, without any annual charges or setup fees. Access to FlexiPay will not be given to new customers until the end of the year.
According to a source familiar with Funding Circle, the company could possibly bring the FlexiPay concept to the US once they’ve fully rolled it out in the UK.
