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The State of Fintech Lending (Canada) |
Stories
Merchant Growth Partners with goeasy to Provide Funding via Physical Branches
December 11, 2019
This month Merchant Growth, the Vancouver-based alternative finance company, announced its partnership with goeasy Ltd. that will see Merchant Growth’s services being offered in goeasy branches throughout Canada. Beginning with British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan in 2019, Merchant Growth aims to have expanded to the remaining provinces in the first quarter of 2020.
Under the partnership, goeasy will receive compensation from Merchant Growth for all loans made through them while Merchant Growth will provide the capital.
“goeasy is a unique Canadian success and they’ve done that by being disciplined managers, by putting their customers first, and by building a great reputation for themselves in the industry,” said David Gens, Merchant Growth’s President and CEO. “And what we see in them is an ideal partner in that they have the market reach in terms of brand recognition and locations around the country.”
It is the latter of these factors that make the deal stand out. Given the industry’s standard of digital applications, goeasy and Merchant Growth’s return to brick and mortar branches that offer live human managers, clerks, and even physical paper, marks a turn back towards more historical methods of doing business.
Gens commented on this, stating that “there’s something to be said for face-to-face interactions and for that reason I don’t think you’re ever going to go down to having no bank branches … Having a physical location where you can chat with people about your financial needs is something that will always exist as far as I can see.”
Merchant Advance Capital Rebrands to Merchant Growth
July 3, 2019
Merchant Advance Capital, which trumpets itself as Canada’s fastest and most transparent small business financier, is rebranding as Merchant Growth.
The company has offices in Vancouver, BC and Toronto, ON and was founded in 2009.
“I founded our company out of my apartment 10 years ago,” David Gens is quoted as saying in a company announcement. Gens is the company’s president & CEO. “Back then our mission was simply to provide credit to small businesses, and we did that by providing one product, called a ‘merchant advance’. Today, we offer a comprehensive suite of financing solutions delivered with unparalleled convenience. In doing so, our mission has expanded to allowing business owners to achieve unconstrained growth, while reducing the administrative stress of running a business. As we’ve transformed our focus from one credit product to this far-reaching mission, we felt the need for our name to reflect this. We are Merchant Growth.”
Gens has been an oft-quoted source in deBanked over the years. His company closed on a $30 million debt facility last year with Comvest Credit Partners.
Gens is also speaking at deBanked CONNECT Toronto on July 25, 2019. You can register to attend at www.debankedcanada.com.
Fundfi Merchant Funding Expands Senior Credit Facility to Accelerate Growth in Revenue-Based Financing
April 7, 2025NEW YORK, NY — April 7, 2025 — Fundfi Merchant Funding, a leading provider of revenue-based financing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, today announced the successful expansion of its senior credit facility. This strategic financial move will enable Fundfi to increase its funding capacity and support more businesses across various industries.
The expanded credit facility strengthens Fundfi’s position in the alternative lending space and allows the company to meet the growing demand for flexible, revenue-based financing options among entrepreneurs and business owners seeking capital without diluting equity.
“This expanded credit facility marks a significant milestone in Fundfi’s journey and reflects the confidence our financial partners have in our business model and growth trajectory,” said Efraim Kandinov, CEO of FundFi Merchant Funding. “By increasing our lending capacity, we can help more businesses access the capital they need to innovate, expand, and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace. Our revenue-based financing approach continues to resonate with entrepreneurs who value flexibility and alignment with their business performance.”
The increased credit facility will enable Fundfi to extend its reach to underserved markets while enhancing its product offerings to meet diverse business needs.
“The expansion of our senior credit facility provides Fundfi with enhanced financial flexibility and improved terms that will directly benefit our clients,” said Natasha Dillon, CFO of FundFi Merchant Funding. “This achievement reflects our strong financial performance, robust underwriting standards, and the growing recognition of revenue- based financing as a viable alternative to traditional funding options. We’re excited to deploy this additional capital to support innovative businesses that drive economic growth and job creation.”
Fundfi’s revenue-based financing model allows businesses to repay their funding as a percentage of future revenues, creating an aligned incentive structure that adapts to business performance. This approach has proven particularly valuable for seasonal businesses and companies with irregular cash flow patterns.
About FundFi Merchant Funding
Fundfi Merchant Funding is a leading provider of revenue-based financing solutions, helping small and medium-sized businesses access growth capital without sacrificing equity or control. With a streamlined application process and flexible repayment terms, Fundfi has established itself as a trusted financial partner for entrepreneurs across various industries and across the United States and Canada. For more information, visit www.fundfimerchantfunding.com.
Fundfi Merchant Funding Expands Services to Canada, Paving the Way for Financial Growth and Innovation
July 11, 2024Fundfi Merchant Funding, a leading provider of innovative financial solutions in the United States, is excited to announce its expansion into the Canadian market. With a proven track record of empowering businesses to achieve their goals through strategic funding, Fundfi Canada Inc. is poised to bring its expertise and dedication to support Canadian enterprises.
The decision to expand into Canada comes at a time when businesses across North America are seeking reliable and flexible financial support to navigate economic landscapes and fuel growth opportunities.
By extending its services to Canadian businesses, Fundfi Canada Inc. aims to bridge the gap between financial needs and solutions, empowering entrepreneurs to thrive in today’s competitive market environment.
The expansion into Canada reflects Fundfi Merchant Funding’s ongoing commitment to innovation, growth, and client satisfaction. By leveraging its extensive experience and deep industry knowledge, Fundfi Canada Inc. aims to become a trusted partner for Canadian businesses seeking reliable and strategic financial support.
As Fundfi Merchant Funding embarks on this exciting new chapter, it invites Canadian businesses to explore the diverse range of financial solutions and opportunities available to them. Whether it’s funding for expansion, equipment upgrades, working capital, or other business needs, Fundfi Canada Inc. is dedicated to helping Canadian businesses thrive and succeed.
For more information about Fundfi Merchant Funding and its expansion into Canada, please visit www.FundfiMerchantFunding.com.
CFG Merchant Solutions Closes Credit Facility of up to $145 Million to Support Small Business Growth
May 29, 2024NEW YORK, NY. May 29, 2024 – CFG Merchant Solutions, LLC (“CFGMS” or the “Company”), a technology-enabled specialty finance and alternative funding provider, announced the successful completion of a $100.0 million senior credit facility. The credit facility is expandable up to an additional $45.0 million, representing a total capital raise of up to $145.0 million. Proceeds from the funding, secured from a prominent, U.S.-based institutional investor focused on private structured credit, will serve to further fuel the Company’s mission to empower and support the growth of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
Since its founding in 2015, CFGMS has a proven track record of asset performance and profitability, and has funded more than $1.4 billion to over 33,000 SMBs across diverse industries throughout the U.S. With the infusion of additional capital, CFGMS will continue to focus on delivering flexible and accessible financing solutions that empower small businesses to seize growth opportunities, create jobs, and contribute to the overall economic prosperity of the communities they serve.
“We are thrilled to have secured this substantial capital raise, as it reaffirms our commitment to empowering small businesses,” said Andrew Coon, Chief Executive Officer of CFGMS. “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our investors for their continued trust and support. With this new credit facility, we will be able to reach a wider range of small businesses and provide them with the financial resources they need to thrive.”
Bill Gallagher, President of CFGMS, expressed enthusiasm for the future impact of the capital raise, stating, “This new facility will strengthen our position to ensure our small business clients have access to fast and efficient financing solutions tailored to their unique needs. We are excited to leverage this capital to expand our operations and deepen our commitment to empower U.S. small businesses to succeed.”
Brean Capital, LLC served as the Company’s exclusive financial advisor and sole placement agent in connection with the transaction.
About CFG Merchant Solutions
CFG Merchant Solutions (“CFGMS”) is an independent, technology-enabled alternative funding platform focused on providing capital access to small and mid-sized businesses that have historically been undeserved by traditional financial institutions and may have experienced challenges obtaining timely financing. The Company uses its historical transactional data, proprietary underwriting, predictive analytics, and electronic payment technologies and platforms to assess risk, and provide access to flexible and timely capital.
For additional information about the Company, visit: https://cfgmerchantsolutions.com/.
Contact:
Name: Richard Polgar
Title: Chief Financial Officer
rpolgar@cfgms.com
Merchant Cash Advance Diminished by Growth of Payment Technologies
May 15, 2011
Technology will be the end of us all
When bank lending dried up, Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) providers fulfilled the need to keep America’s small business owners going strong. By withholding a percentage of each credit/debit card sale automatically, there was no need to worry about a client’s ability to make payments. Without the risk of late payers or non-payers, MCA providers singlehandedly eradicated credit score from the underwriting guidelines. Or so they thought.
Only a small percentage of businesses in default actually close their doors. Circumventing the MCA provider’s merchant processor or incentivizing customers to pay with cash are issues that have plagued the industry for years. While this would constitute a clear breach in the sale of one’s future receivables, it’s not always a deliberate act of malice. However, there is a direct correlation between the frequency of breaches and *surprise* declining credit score.
But in the instances without malice, such as if damaged POS equipment prevents the flow of processing, there’s not much a MCA provider can do other than help fix it. These gaps in collection affect the bottom line and lead to upward pressure on costs or tighter restrictions on approval, two outcomes that nobody wants.
And as if there already wasn’t a strain, changes in payment technology are quickly eroding the MCA industry’s turf. The credit/debit card sales of a business aren’t exactly limited to one of these:
Now there are options, lots of them. In today’s world you can accept electronic payments with almost anything, a conundrum for MCA providers aiming to collect a percentage of all of it. And how about those routine PCI compliance upgrades? There are countless businesses with a basement full of old credit card machines that could be plugged back in, put back into service, and freely used to circumvent their financial obligations.
Take this clothing retailer for example. She qualified for an advance of only $5,000 but when it came time to convert the merchant account, the process wasn’t so easy:
Nearly all of the transactions conducted inside the store happen through the touch screen POS. The merchant statements reflect consistent historical sales of nearly $4,800 per month, instilling the belief that the future won’t be much different. But when the customer lines get too long, there’s a backup credit card terminal that they pull out from under the counter that still has an active account with a previous processor. Around the holidays, they dig out the old Tranz model terminals from the basement and use them too. For street fairs and trade shows, they attach their Square to their iPhone and process on the go. And when it comes to their website and Ebay, PayPal is their preferred method of payment.
This doesn’t mean the touch screen POS won’t continue to see $4,800 worth of action per month, but the situation doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence if the goal is to collect a percentage of their credit/debit card sales. What if they occasionally use Square inside the store? What if phone orders are punched into PayPal? These things may happen inadvertently or simply because their customers demand it.
To firmly secure a purchase of future sales, the MCA provider would need to do the following:
- Convert the touch screen POS system (which will very likely come with a fee from the POS reseller)
- Reprogram their backup terminal
- Reprogram all the old terminals collecting dust in the basement
- Force the return of the Square and replace it with their own iPhone processing attachment
- Delete PayPal from the HTML of the business’s website
- Instruct them to stop conducting business on Ebay
- Cancel the PayPal account altogether and replace with an authorize.net virtual interface or something equivalent
That’s a lot of effort for $5,000 but doing anything less is a gamble. That’s another reason why MCAs are more expensive than bank loans. Without set fixed payments, they are extremely vulnerable to economic ups and downs and now the explosion of payment alternatives.
Rather than stay ahead, the industry is becoming more fractured as evident by the rise of new funding sources such as Kabbage, that lends against future PayPal sales. It’s innovative but vulnerable. Kabbage depends on the success and status quo of PayPal for survival, a characteristic that is not likely to carry them far. Similarly, MCA providers are dependent on withholding a percentage of future sales, an uneasy task in a world where the point of sale itself is changing.
Innovation in the MCA space has gone as far as automated bank debits and a lockbox. One depends on the merchant’s use of a single bank account and the other is equally exposed to the issues we’ve discussed.
Which of course begs the question: If electronic payments are becoming more elusive to capture, how can the MCA industry survive? The obvious answer is to transform the product itself into a loan. Secure it against collateral and have the credit bureaus at your disposal. Breaches will become far less likely and electronic payments less elusive when there are actual consequences involved. It’s a dreaded word and one MCA representatives have spent years avoiding, but according to the state of California, it’s probably a loan already anyway.
As MCA providers struggle to keep up with payment alternatives, banks are wondering when we’ll all wake up from the “it’s not a loan” euphoria. If the goal is to provide capital and get more back, reprogramming a terminal isn’t going to cut it. How many free hours can America Online offer to bring people back to their dialup internet service? Technology changed and the age of AOL ended. So too may the age of Merchant Cash Advance…. at least in its current form.
– The Merchant Cash Advance Resource
Byzfunder Reports 40% Growth in 2025, Driven by AI Underwriting, ByzFlex Expansion, and a 30% Increase in Customer Portal Engagement
February 10, 2026NEW YORK — February 10, 2026 — Most lenders spent the last decade tweaking rates. Byzfunder rebuilt the engine. While the small-business lending industry debated incremental changes — a faster portal here, a new rate sheet there — Byzfunder made a different bet: if the system is broken, don’t optimize it. Replace it.
In 2025, Byzfunder stopped operating like a traditional lender and started operating like a technology company that happens to move capital. Our new approach is opening new doors for small businesses, which in turn is driving tremendous growth for ByzFunder.
Byzfunder today announced 40% year-over-year growth, record originations, higher approvals with improving portfolio performance, and reduced customer friction across the funding journey. The company also reported a 30% increase in customer portal engagement, reflecting stronger customer loyalty and repeat business — driven by increased adoption of self-serve tools, faster visibility into funding progress, and a cleaner end-to-end experience that reduces unnecessary handoffs.
“Most of the industry is still running on static rules and patched-together systems,” said Ilya Fridman, CEO & Founder of Byzfunder. “We built a modern credit engine designed to learn every day. We didn’t aim to be slightly better — we built Byzfunder to be structurally different.”
Byz.AI: From Underwriting Feature to Decision Brain
In 2025, Byzfunder advanced its AI foundation with Byz.AI — not as a feature, but as the decision brain behind underwriting and pricing. Byz.AI evaluates real-time business signals (cash flow patterns, revenue trends, banking behavior, and industry cycles) to deliver faster decisions and more accurate risk-based pricing than static scorecards. And because it continuously learns from outcomes — repayments, defaults, and merchant behavior — it improves as volume scales. When Byz.AI went live, it widened what we could confidently approve: businesses competitors couldn’t underwrite became some of Byzfunder’s strongest-performing customers, helping drive growth without compromising discipline.
ByzFlex: The Product that Changed Repeat Behavior
A defining driver of 2025 growth was ByzFlex, which now accounts for 20% of total originations, making it one of the fastest-adopted products in Byzfunder’s history. ByzFlex gives your business ongoing access to working capital — acting like a business line of credit, but structured as a revenue-based financing. Funding that resets itself as you repay. ByzFlex was built for how small businesses actually operate: not as a one-time advance, but as a repeatable capital layer that can be accessed as needs change — with flexible draws and capital that moves when they move.
Customer Service — And We Mean Real Customer Service
Byzfunder also continued investing in service as a competitive advantage. In an industry known for tickets, hold times, and scripts, Byzfunder’s approach combines real human support with intelligent automation to create a more responsive, partner-like experience. When a merchant calls Byzfunder, they get answers — not a queue. In a commoditized market, experience becomes the moat.
“In SMB funding, service is often treated as a cost center,” Fridman added. “We treat it as a growth lever. When merchants trust the experience, they come back — and they refer.”
Leadership Built for Scale
In 2025, Byzfunder strengthened its operating bench — not by hiring “managers,” but by hiring builders. Entrepreneurs. Operators. People who have scaled companies, not maintained them. New leadership was added across the CMO, CRO, CISO, Head of People, and Head of Sales functions as Byzfunder scales its platform, expands distribution, and builds a team designed to shock the industry.
2026: The Real Leap
Most lenders buy software. Byzfunder is building its own from scratch. In 2026, Byzfunder plans to launch a fully proprietary, end-to-end AI Lending Management System spanning intake, underwriting, pricing, funding, servicing, and collections — with every step learning, every step automated, and every step improving itself. No handoffs. No legacy vendors. No duct tape. Just one intelligent system: a closed-loop credit engine designed to get smarter every day. This isn’t digital transformation — it’s infrastructure replacement.
“SMB lending has been stagnant for years. Same products. Same underwriting. Same excuses,” said Fridman. “That gap created opportunity. We didn’t want to be slightly better — we wanted to be structurally different. The world is evolving faster than most people realize. The lenders who build for tomorrow will own the next decade. We’re not early anymore. We’re accelerating.”
About Byzfunder
Byzfunder is an AI-driven small business funder delivering fast, flexible capital to entrepreneurs underserved by traditional finance. Founded in 2019, the company combines machine learning, proprietary infrastructure, and a service-first philosophy to create a fundamentally better funding experience.
Media Contact
Xin Hamilton
press@byzfunder.com
How a Mother-Daughter Broker Shop Persevered and is Positioned for Growth
January 15, 2026Sharpe Capital facilitated nearly $5 million in funding to small businesses across the United States in 2025. Next year, they hope to double it. What makes the company unique is that it operates as a mother-daughter team, one of the very few in the industry to be structured that way. But how Wendy Rivera and her mother, Sonia Alvelo, got there is a story of circumstances and perseverance.
Alvelo is a known entrepreneur in the space through her own small business finance brokerage Latin Financial, but technically she was also associated with another brokerage at the same time, Sharpe Capital. Her business partner and life partner, Brendan Lynch, co-founded Sharpe with her more than a decade ago, but Lynch primarily ran Sharpe while Alvelo ran Latin, sister companies of sorts but with separate operations. The two celebrated a grand opening of a big joint office in Wethersfield, CT in 2022, which was attended by deBanked and a slate of local politicians. The Sharpe team wore green shirts and the Latin team wore blue.
Sadly, Lynch passed away in December 2024 from cancer at only 45 years old, but not before he could finally tie the knot with Alvelo, making her known as Alvelo-Lynch once and for all. Lynch’s last interview with deBanked happened four months before he passed and one of his final messages he had hoped to get out through us was a reminder for people to remember to take care of their health.
In the challenging time afterward, Alvelo took the reins of Sharpe and eventually her daughter, Wendy Rivera, emerged as a key reason the company continues to be successful.
Rivera, Connecticut-born and raised, had originally been working in retail when she became curious about her mother’s and Lynch’s business in 2018. When working for them became a possible next step for Rivera, they didn’t give in to nepotism and made her interview as a candidate just like anyone else. But she turned it around on them.
“They would tell you that I interviewed them in regards to what the company was and everything like that, but I asked the right questions,” Rivera told deBanked. “Everything was moving smoothly, and I decided to move forward.”
It started off as a part-time gig and eventually became full-time. Her role was to bring in deals and work closely under the tutelage of Lynch, who had a natural knack for connecting with people, particularly small business owners.
“They had a special place for him in their hearts,” Rivera said. “Brendan has taught me so much. He pretty much taught me this industry. I’ve worked with him side by side for the past seven-plus years.”
Rivera obviously learned from her mother as well, but Alvelo’s typical Latin Financial client was primarily from within the Spanish-speaking community while Sharpe’s was much more broad. To give some perspective on that, Alvelo, for example, says that today 80% of her entire Latin Financial customer base resides in Puerto Rico.
So Rivera spent her time on Sharpe and now she’s the primary person responsible for its operations. In what was a transitional year fraught with grief and challenges, the two revamped everything to focus on efficiency. Now they’re finally getting back to thinking about how to expand.
Along the way, Rivera realized that relationships in this business have a tremendous impact and can serve as its own form of marketing.
“Honestly, what’s been working for us is word of mouth,” Rivera said when it comes to acquiring customers. “Really. It sounds very old school but it really works. Once you take care of one merchant, they’ll tell their friends or whoever the case may be, and then they’ll reach out to us, and it just keeps growing that way.”
But those referrals wouldn’t come if they didn’t have the right funders in place to help them out. That means they have to know and trust who they are doing business with on the other side. Coincidentally, attending deBanked events, which Rivera has done, has been an eye-opening experience for her in getting to see who they are working with.
“I feel like once you actually meet the person, I don’t even think a phone call will do enough, you get a feel for what kind of person they are, and if they are in the industry for the right reasons,” Rivera said.
And in all those meetings, another thing she’s realized is that being part of a purely mother-daughter team is unique even within the family business segment of the industry which tends to lean toward father-son. But the two talk business just like any other shop: during work, after work, even during dinner they talk about deals.
Though it’s been a lot and Rivera says she’s overdue for a vacation, she says it’s a job she really enjoys.
“If you love numbers, if you love people, if you love helping people, I think it’s definitely a great position to be in,” Rivera said of working in the industry. “But you have to also be in love with the job as well. Because if you’re not in love with it, there’s going to be a lot of things that’ll hold you back.”
The motivation now is just to pick back up and have an even bigger 2026.
“Brendan and my mom had different ways of running their companies, Sharpe and Latin Financial, and so I feel like [Brendan] kind of taught me his kind of ways for Sharpe Capital and also maybe leaving an open door for opportunities down the road as well,” Rivera said. “And now that I’m in that spot, I can see that.”
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