Business Lending
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.”
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.
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.
A Lawsuit Against Marcus Lemonis & Others is Alleging That “The Profit” Is Scamming Small Businesses
August 22, 2021
Marcus Lemonis, the star of CNBC’s show The Profit, is no stranger to litigation, but a proposed amended complaint recently filed against him in a year-old dispute really lets loose. The 165-page grievance reads like its own reality show, in which plaintiffs assert that Lemonis is nothing more than a fraud.
“While he pretends to be savior on TV to save businesses, Lemonis actually and purposefully sets out to acquire them for himself and ruin them financially,” plaintiffs contend.
Forbes turned the allegations in the proposed amended complaint into an exposè about Lemonis and his TV show, leading with a photo of him that is captioned, “The Profit or Profiteer?” It racked up more than 33,000 views in the first 24 hours at last count by deBanked.
But the lawsuit filed by Nicolas Goureau, Stephanie Menkin, and ML Fashion, who were first filmed for the show in 2014, is a bit overshadowed by the fact that this is their 2nd amended complaint and that a motion to dismiss their previous one was already pending.
The latest one highlighted by Forbes is communicated to the public as being the culmination of an “eight-month investigation” carried out with the help of a “former district attorney and a top law school professor, and a world renown psychiatrist that was spurred by the coming forward of no less than seventy (70) family businesses that have been destroyed…”
The identities of the people who carried out the “investigation” are not shared and the 70 “destroyed businesses” are not co-plaintiffs. At times, it is hard to take the complaint seriously when it casually asserts sensational facts, like one that says a participant on the show killed themselves but it doesn’t say who they were, where they worked, or any other details about the death.
Plaintiffs are seeking at least $12 million in damages and they have just added NBC Universal Media, LLC as a defendant.
Lemonis contends that the plaintiffs earned $3 million for their labor and that they charged $1.3 million in personal expenses on the company credit card.
Overall, it’s probably unwelcome press for the show given that the eighth season just debuted. Many people in the small business finance community are fans of the show. In 2017, Lemonis personally criticized Kabbage, saying that they weren’t a friend of small business.
Lemonis is currently hosting a contest on twitter where small businesses are competing to win $10,000 by submitting their pitch.
Win $10,000 for your business …. Make your best pitch … must use #TheProfit to submit your pitch pic.twitter.com/8CuZAN5SJ0
— Marcus Lemonis (@marcuslemonis) August 21, 2021
What The “Capital Dude” Said About Experience, Success, and the Future
August 18, 2021
Coming in at rank #1,044 on the 2021 Inc 5000 list was a small business finance provider with a whimsical name, Capital Dude. Having some common ownership overlap with another Inc ranked company, Central Diligence Group (#2,893), the Dude told deBanked that they didn’t shut down or pause funding throughout 2020. In fact, they continued to grow.
“We really have to attribute the company’s growth to our hardworking and efficient team that made sure we didn’t miss a beat while having to work remote,” said company partner Andrew Hernandez.
The name, Capital Dude, was chosen to convey an easy process to their partners and clients, the company says, while at the same time being compatible with a mascot they had in mind. The Capital Dude himself is a superhero in a green suit with the letters “CD” emblazoned on his chest. He’s also got a red cape and a flashy smile.
Behind the optics, however, is a seasoned team.
“We got started in the industry during the ’08 – ’09 recession,” Hernandez said, “so when you experience getting started during a downturn, you quickly realize that the only way to keep going is to stick to your principles while continuously taking inventory of the ongoing situation and making any necessary changes quickly in order to protect the portfolio. While both downturns were very different in how they played out, applying that previous experience to the past 18 months has been interesting as we have seen a lot of similarities that are very measurable.”
Central Diligence Group, meanwhile, has gotten repeat recognition on the Inc 5000 list.
“CDG offers consulting and underwriting services to other alternative financing companies in the industry,” Hernandez explained. The “short term plan is to scale out this portion of the business in 2022 via licensing of our platform to funders, funds, accredited investors, etc.”
The companies are currently in the process of moving to a new office and they expressed that they are “very bullish on the future” and plan to increase their headcount and continue to grow.
Small Business Finance on the 2021 Inc 5000 List
August 17, 2021Here’s where alternative small business finance ranks on the Inc 5000 list for 2021:
| Ranking | Company Name | Growth |
| 44 | Crestmont Capital | 7,404% |
| 1044 | Capital Dude | 463% |
| 1221 | Fountainhead | 394% |
| 2298 | Bankers Healthcare Group | 186% |
| 2427 | Fund&Grow | 173% |
| 2628 | Channel Partners Capital | 155% |
| 2803 | PIRS Capital | 142% |
| 2893 | Central Diligence Group | 135% |
| 3005 | ApplePie Capital | 127% |
| 3027 | Nav | 126% |
| 3365 | Onset Financial | 105% |
| 3394 | OTR Capital | 104% |
| 3547 | Forward Financing | 96% |
Did we forget you? Let us know at info@debanked.com
LoanMe Now Officially Part of NextPoint
August 11, 2021
The Canadian SPAC deal to merge LoanMe with Liberty Tax was finally completed last month after being announced in February.
The combined entity, NextPoint Financial, trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker NPF.
“In just over a year from establishing this SPAC, we have closed two acquisitions that immediately create a financial services company with scale and opportunities for synergistic growth,” said Andy Neuberger, Chairman of NextPoint Financial. “With a management team and board comprised of proven executives and operators across the financial services, digital and retail sectors, we have very quickly created an organization that is set to impact how financial services are delivered to North America consumers and small businesses.”
The deal is especially significant in the small business finance space since it will place LoanMe’s small business loan and merchant cash advance products into 2,700 Liberty Tax storefronts throughout North America.
