Announcements
Top Accounting Officer at StreetShares Resigns
January 31, 2019Jesse Cushman, who served as StreetShares’ Chief Business Officer and Principal Financial & Accounting Officer, has resigned, according to a Form 1-U filed with the SEC this week. His exit was made effective as of January 1, 2019.
StreetShares president Michael Konson is currently filling the role in an interim capacity until a permanent successor can be named.
StreetShares’ financials have left something to be desired. The company recently reported a 12-month net loss of $6.5 million on only $3 million in revenue.
Parris Sanz Joins Petal as General Counsel
January 31, 2019Former CAN Capital CEO Parris Sanz is now the General Counsel for Petal, according to a company announcement. Petal is a US credit card aimed at the unbanked that recently closed a $30 million Series B round led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures.
According to a story in TechCrunch, Petal had more than 100,000 potential applicants sign up during the company’s private beta phase. This latest capital raise will be used in part to expand the product to more customers.
Alternative Finance Bar Association Webinar to Be Held on Feb 7th
January 30, 2019
Yellowstone Capital LLC Appoints Tangela Griffin as Chief Compliance Officer to Enhance its Compliance and Ethics Practices
January 23, 2019Hiring Evidence of Company’s Commitment to Compliance
New York, N.Y. (January 23, 2019)— Yellowstone Capital LLC (a Fundry Brand), a fintech company offering alternative financing to a wide variety of businesses, has appointed Tangela Griffin to the position of Chief Compliance Officer. Ms. Griffin will be responsible for enhancing and providing oversight of the company’s Compliance and Ethics Program, including regulatory compliance. Ms. Griffin will report directly to the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, and its President.
“Yellowstone recognizes the importance of a strong corporate compliance function and is excited that Tangela has joined our organization to spearhead and continue those efforts,” the company said in a statement.
Ms. Griffin brings extensive industry experience in regulatory compliance and risk management to Yellowstone. She is a former Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) Large Bank Supervision Compliance Examiner and most recently served as the Head of Compliance at a financial services technology company. She previously held the position of Senior Vice President at Citibank and Deputy Compliance Officer/Assistant General Counsel at a foreign banking organization, amongst others.
Ms. Griffin holds a B.A. in History from Old Dominion University, a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law and is a member of the New York State Bar. She is also a FINRA Dispute Resolution Arbitrator.
Strategic Funding Source Announces Launch of New Brand Identity; Unites its Funding Arm and Servicing Arm Under the name Kapitus
January 15, 2019New York, NY – January 15, 2019 – Strategic Funding Source, a veteran of the small and medium-sized business alternative lending space, today announced the launch of a new corporate brand identity, including a new name. As part of this rebrand, the funding division and servicing division will be united under the name Kapitus. The unification of these two divisions will allow for an improved experience for both clients and partners.
Since its inception in 2006, Strategic Funding Source has provided over $2 billion to almost 40,000 businesses in hundreds of industries across the U.S. Over the past two years, the organization has been proactively building out its executive team, bringing in a wealth of experience to transform its risk model, underwriting processes, lending capacity and product line, technology capabilities and customer experience.
With these and other planned advancements, the company required a new brand that better reflected the company’s commitment to be a reliable source of capital to all small and mid-sized business owners.
“The small business lending landscape is consolidating around a few strong and reputable companies. Over the last several years, Kapitus has experienced tremendous growth both in its product offerings to small and medium-sized businesses and in the total number of businesses it serves” said Andy Reiser, CEO of Kapitus. “We chose a name and identity that represents our strength and stability as well as our promise to be a responsible and fair source of capital to small and medium-sized businesses nationwide.”
Along with the name change there will be a new logo, tagline (“Let’s Grow Together”) and domain name (kapitus.com). The rebrand is the first step in the company’s strategy to grow its own financing product line, add to its marketplace of 3rd party lenders and create a foundation for new partnership opportunities. The new brand also represents the company’s commitment to keep the human touch throughout the financing process, while improving customer experience through technology to aid the decisioning process and improve speed to funding.
“This is an exciting change for us,” added Reiser. “This new branding builds upon our history and pays allegiance to our standing as a leader in a fast-evolving industry, opening the door for future opportunities for us, our clients and our partners.”
About Kapitus
Founded in 2006 and headquartered in NYC, Kapitus is one of the most reliable and respected names in small business financing. As both a direct lender and a marketplace built with a trusted network of lending partners, Kapitus is able to provide small businesses the financing they need, when and how it is needed. With one application business owners can save time and money, while eliminating the stress that comes with applying to different lenders. At Kapitus, we believe that business owners should be able to focus on running their business, while we take care of the financing. To learn more, visit www.kapitus.com.
DataMerch.com Surpasses 20,000 Records Heading into 2019
January 9, 2019DataMerch.com surpasses 20,000 records heading into 2019
DataMerch continues rapid growth and adds many new members and merchant records
Tampa, Jan. 9, 2019 /DeBanked/ — Today, DataMerch.com, an online underwriting database for the alternative financing industry, announced that they have surpassed over 20,000 records in their database. DataMerch has been servicing funders in the alternative financing field since 2015 and has been widely adopted as the industry standard for online screening of merchants.
“We continue to grow our membership and database because our tool is so useful,” said Co-Founder Cody Burgess. “In 2018 we surpassed 60 active member companies with well over 500 individual users within those companies. We also added tools to support better member communication.” When asked what developments to expect looking forward in 2019, Mr. Burgess responded, “We have several projects we are working on to expand our features and membership. We are developing tools to make searching and reporting even easier, and we are planning on adding some additional industry markets to bolster results and relevancy.”
President and COO of IOU Financial Inc., Robert Gloer said, “We’ve been using DataMerch since the beginning and are thrilled with the results. We’ve automated our process where we screen every new application through DataMerch to check if there were issues with competitors in our industry. This allows us to save countless hours of time and money with an additional up-front underwriting tool that is easy to use.”
Management at DataMerch said they will continue to offer world-class support to members and improve the platform.
About DataMerch
DataMerch LLC was founded in 2015 and is designed to help funders determine if a future client of theirs has a bad track record in the alternative finance industry. DataMerch members can scrub their files using DataMerch’s specifically designed FEIN search and enter unsatisfactory businesses into the database. DataMerch currently has over 60 industry-leading subscribed members working together as a community. DataMerch can be accessed at https://www.datamerch.com and contacted for membership at support@datamerch.com
CAN Capital Hires Edward J. Siciliano as Chief Executive Officer
January 8, 2019Atlanta, GA (January 8, 2019) – CAN Capital, a technology-driven small business specialty finance company, today announced the appointment of Edward J. Siciliano as Chief Executive Officer. Siciliano brings over 30 years of experience in commercial financing, sales, marketing and operations.
Siciliano joins CAN Capital most recently from Marlin Business Services, a nationwide provider of commercial financing and depository products. While at Marlin, Siciliano served in roles including Chief Operating Officer, Interim Chief Executive Officer and EVP, and Chief Sales Officer. During that time, he was responsible for turning around Marlin post financial crisis by rebuilding the sales force, adding new products, improving operations, and driving optimal risk-adjusted returns for all segments, resulting in double-digit ROE and more than fivefold growth in originations.
After beginning his career at Xerox Corporation, Siciliano worked at Applied Theory Corporation as SVP of Sales and Marketing and at ALK Technologies, where he also led Sales and Marketing.
“Ed is a proven leader with deep industry knowledge and a strategist who is skilled at driving business growth,” said Gary Johnson, CAN Capital’s Executive Chairman. “Throughout his career, he has served the needs of small businesses while building loyal teams that deliver innovative products and a great customer experience. These skills will be invaluable as CAN Capital finds new ways to deliver on its mission of helping small businesses succeed.”
“It’s rare to have the opportunity to work with a company that is a pioneer in its space, yet has so much growth potential,” said Siciliano. “CAN Capital’s experience, brand recognition, data, and partner relationships make it uniquely positioned to support the expansion of the small businesses that drive the U.S. economy. I look forward to building a leadership team and working together to expand our offerings, invest in talent and technology, and help our customers grow.”
About CAN Capital
CAN Capital, Inc., established in 1998, is the pioneer in alternative small business finance, having provided access to over $7 billion in capital for over 81,000 small businesses in a wide range of locations and different business types. As a technology powered financial services provider, CAN Capital uses innovative and proprietary risk models combined with daily performance data to evaluate business performance and facilitate access to capital for entrepreneurs in a fast and efficient way.
CAN Capital, Inc. makes capital available to businesses through business loans made by WebBank, member FDIC, and through Merchant Cash Advances made by CAN Capital’s subsidiary CAN Capital Merchant Services, Inc. ©2018 CAN Capital. All rights reserved.
Follow CAN Capital on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
Janene Machado Wins PCMA’s RISE Award
December 18, 2018Janene Machado, deBanked’s event planner, was honored by the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) last week with the RISE Award. The RISE Award is given to a new member who has made the most impact to the chapter. With more than 7,000 members and an audience of more than 50,000 individuals, the PCMA is the world’s largest network of Business Events Strategists.
Machado volunteers on the New York Area Chapter Marketing committee and manages their social media content.
We congratulate her on her achievement.
