Articles by deBanked Staff
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.
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.
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.
Site Note: New server
August 30, 2021deBanked upgraded to a new server over the weekend, a long overdue enhancement that will more than double the processing power and workload the site can handle. Users may experience occasional glitches or bugs over the next few days while kinks from the transfer are ironed out.
If you spot a major error, please email info@debanked.com.
Thanks for your understanding. This update is unrelated to this.
Intuit Originated $232M in Small Business Loans in Fiscal Year 2021
August 30, 2021
Intuit, the producer of QuickBooks and owner of Credit Karma, originated $232M in small business loans for the fiscal year of 2021 that ended on July 31. That was slightly below fiscal year 2020’s $243M and down significantly from 2019’s $316M. Cumulatively, however, the company has originated approximately $928M since it started lending at the end of 2017.
QuickBooks Capital requires that applicants have their bank accounts connected to the QuickBooks software and revenue of at least $50,000 over the past 12 months. APRs can range anywhere from 9.99% APR to 34% APR.
Intuit completed its acquisition of Credit Karma at the end of last year. Credit Karma generated a quarterly record revenue of $405 million.
IOU Financial Breaks All-Time Internal Loan Originations Record
August 26, 2021
IOU Financial originated $34.4M worth of small business loans in Q2, the company reported, a 272% increase over the same quarter last year. July was IOU’s best month ever, coming in at $18.5M in originations.
The achievements follow a slew of announced changes, including new hires and a cash-back loan product.
“We are delivering on our Post-Pandemic Growth Plan and these growth figures are the result,” said Robert Gloer, President and CEO, in the quarterly earnings announcement. “We are committed to continue delivering on our plans and maximizing the growth potential of the marketplace strategy.”
The company hopes to originate between $165M to $200M of business loans for the year, which would be their best year ever, according to the deBanked Small Business Funder Rankings.
MJ Capital Investors Allege Wells Fargo Knew MJ Capital Funding Was a Ponzi Scheme
August 24, 2021
A class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida on behalf of MJ Capital Funding’s investors is alleging that Wells Fargo knew that the company was a ponzi scheme.
“Wells Fargo knew based on its Know Your Customer inquiries that the MJ Companies were supposed to use investor monies to lend to small merchants, which would then repay the loans, the proceeds of which would be used to pay back investors. Wells Fargo monitored the MJ Companies’ accounts and saw that’s not what happened. Very little money that left the MJ Companies’ accounts went to merchants. Millions instead went to [the CEO’s] personal account at Wells Fargo, to MJ Companies’ sales agents or back to other investors.
Despite this knowledge, Wells Fargo substantially assisted the MJ Companies by allowing them to continue operating with Wells Fargo accounts, commingle investor funds and make payments via wire, transfer and check. Garcia and the MJ Companies’ banking activities at Wells Fargo were integral to her scheme to defraud investors.”
The claims are for aiding and abetting fraud, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment.
MJ Capital is estimated to have raised between $70M and $128M from investors over roughly one years time. The company is being sued by the SEC for securities fraud and its assets have been frozen pursuant to a court order.
The case # is: 0:21-cv-61749-RAR
Robinhood Posts Q2 Net Loss of $502M, Shareholders/Fans Pick Management’s Brain on the Call
August 19, 2021
Robinhood posted a massive net loss last quarter to the tune of $502M on only $565M in revenue.
Following the announcement, the company’s earnings call was a bit unusual, sounding more like a live AMA Reddit thread as the platform’s shareholders were given an opportunity to talk to senior management, a platform usually reserved only for Wall Street analysts. This format led to the submission of 1,300 questions, way more than could be answered in the time allotted, so only the most upvoted were selected to be answered on the call itself.
One person asked if they could get a Robinhood hat and hoody jacket, a surreal insight into how shareholders are thinking about a company that lost $2 for every dollar it brought in last quarter. Another shareholder asked if Robinhood was getting a crypto wallet.
“…I know that there’s been a ton of enthusiasm from the crypto community and the Dogecoin community in particular, on getting access to wallets and it’s something that our teams are working on,” said Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev.
When the shareholders’ turn was over, the analysts took control, asking more pointed questions, like what happens when Robinhood runs out of potential customers that have so far comprised the demographic that led to the company’s early success.
Tenev said that “I think more and more, you’re going to see Robinhood, particularly with our mobile first platform and ease of use, be become incredibly attractive to folks that haven’t previously considered Robinhood, is the go to place. So we’re pretty optimistic about the opportunity ahead of us. And that’s limiting the response to investing. I think there’s a lot more that we can do, when we talk about being the single money app for our customers.”
The company’s stock went down slightly after earnings.
