Announcements
Wellen Makes the Inc.5000 List
August 15, 2018
Chicago — August 15, 2018 — Inc. magazine today listed Wellen Capital on its annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment— its independent small and midsized businesses. Companies such as Microsoft, Timberland, Vizio, Intuit, Chobani, Oracle, Zappos.com, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees of the Inc. 5000.
“We’re so pleased to be included in the Inc. 5000. This honor reflects the hard work our team has put in not just this past year, but over the last several years that has driven the revenue growth that earned us a spot on the list.” said Wellen President Jim Teppen. “We couldn’t have done it without our sales partners, key vendors, and financial backers” added Teppen. “Those relationships provided crucial support in our growth over these past few years.”
The Inc. 5000 is a list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. Started in 1982, this prestigious list of the nation’s most successful private companies has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success. Complete results of the 2018 Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.
About Wellen Capital:
Since 2012, Wellen (f/k/a Gibraltar Capital Advance) has been providing working capital solutions to small and mid-sized businesses across America. Headquartered in Chicago, Wellen supports American business growth with its capital advance product – allowing customers to access between $10,000 and $250,000 in short-term working capital.
Contact:
Steven O’Connor
224.374.1519
soconnor@wellen.com
Q2 Acquires Cloud Lending Solutions
August 9, 2018
Q2 Holdings (NYSE:QTWO), which creates digital banking solutions for banks and credit unions, announced yesterday an agreement to acquire San Mateo, California-based Cloud Lending, Inc., a privately-held software as a service (SaaS) company that provides a lending and leasing platform. According to its website, Cloud Lending says that its lender clients can increase loan volume by 40%, decrease time-to-fund by 27% and reduce operating costs by 15%.
“By acquiring Cloud Lending, we will be able to help our community and regional financial institutions more effectively manage and grow their lending portfolios—their fundamental income-generating activity,” said Q2 CEO, Matt Flake, in a statement.. “There’s a substantial market opportunity for digital lending, and the addition of Cloud Lending’s talented team and next-generation technology solutions will help Q2 expand our footprint in existing markets, as well as enter new ones.”
Both Q2 and Cloud Lending provide services to lenders, whether they are banks or alternatives lenders. With this acquisition, Q2 hopes to add increased efficiency to its offerings. Meanwhile, Cloud Lending can also benefit from the scale, infrastructure and resources of Q2.
“This partnership means more lenders will provide greater access to credit for more people and businesses across the globe,” said Cloud Lending CEO Snehal Fulzele. “Cloud Lending’s team members are excited to partner with Q2 and to continue delivering on our proven track record of innovation in digital lending and leasing.”
Merging with a larger lending company that services banks is one path to take. But nCino, a competitor to Cloud Lending, has recently been partnering with banks instead.
Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Q2 went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014. The company’s ticker symbol is QTWO. Cloud Lending was founded in 2012 and, in addition to its San Mateo, California headquarters, the company also has offices in the U.K., India and Australia.
Yellowstone Capital Funded $68.5M in July
August 1, 2018Yellowstone Capital originated $68.5 million in funding to small businesses in July, according an announcement the company made on social media. The figure was slightly larger than what they produced in June.
The top 3 sales reps funded a combined 553 deals for $21 million.
B2B Blacklist Announces the Launch of b2bblacklist.com
August 1, 2018Watchung, NJ, Aug. 1st, 2018 – New Jersey based Technology Company announces the launch of its new crowd sourced platform for the Cash Advance industry as well as any other type of company that extends credit to businesses. B2bblacklist.com is an informative search and reporting engine allowing its users to report and identify defaulted and fraudulent business owners using many data points.
A company spokesperson said ‘with the rise of defaults, business owners have gotten creative with circumventing repayments on financial obligations and lenders have little recourse apart from filling COJ’s that are time consuming and cumbersome.’
A B2B Blacklist community member who has been using the platform said ‘it has been an invaluable tool to screen out business owners with default history at the beginning of the underwriting process, thus saving us time and money! Sometimes, the best business you do is the business you walk away from.’
About B2B Blacklist
Headquartered in central New Jersey, B2b Blacklist is a game changing Technology Company and the only of its kind. Each user is screened to ensure business owner data is truthful and accurate. They are rapidly growing into a well trusted source for any company that extends credit to businesses.
Contact Information:
B2B Blacklist
Sarah Davies
855-547-8222
(855-LIST-B2B)
nCino Partners With Santander
July 24, 2018
nCino partnered with Santander Bank last week, its latest in a string of partnerships with major banks.
“Innovative institutions such as Santander Bank understand the importance of ensuring the customer experience is as fast, easy and intuitive as possible,” said Pierre Naudé, CEO of nCino. “[Santander] also recognizes that a shiny front end means nothing if the middle and back office doesn’t embrace at least the same degree of automation and intelligence.”
nCino is a cloud-based lending platform that grew out of Wilmington, North Carolina-based Live Oak Bank in 2012. Its founder, James Mahan III, then CEO of Live Oak Bank, along with his team, recognized a need to make the commercial lending process less time-consuming. So they created the nCino Bank Operating System internally for Live Oak Bank. But it soon attracted the interest of other financial institutions, in the US and beyond.
Last year, nCino told deBanked in that in addition to working with Live Oak Bank, it was working with more than 150 other financial institutions in multiple countries, including nine of the top 30 US banks. Now, according to the nCino website, over 200 banks and credit unions of varying sizes use the company’s Bank Operating System. TD Bank and SunTrust are among their largest bank partners.
An nCino spokesperson told deBanked that its Bank Operating System is sold on a subscription-basis that is driven by individual annual user licenses. This allows employees, executives and other stakeholders of a financial institution to access the benefits and functionality of nCino’s solution. nCino spun off from Live Oak Bank and became its own entity in 2014. Separately, Live Oak Bank (NASDAQ: LOB) went public in 2015.
Santander will be using nCino’s platform for its business banking clients. Santander says that nCino’s cloud-based platform is accessible to customers from any device and will reduce the time it takes Santander to deliver loan decisions from start to finish by approximately 40 percent. In conjunction with a partnership with Accenture, Santander will be using nCino’s platform to help with customer relationship management, loan origination, account opening, workflow, enterprise content management, and instant reporting capabilities.
“Respecting our customers means giving them more insight into the loan process and getting them their money faster without any impediments so they can focus on running their businesses,” said Amir Madjlessi, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Business Banking at Santander. “nCino’s platform automates the lending process from start to finish in a way that ensures a seamless, transparent experience for our customers that reduces delays and inefficiencies and securely connects our clients to our bankers whenever they need them with the touch of a button.”
nCino employs 500 people and is headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina. The company recently opened an office in London and has plans to open additional offices in Australia and Canada later this year, according to a company spokesperson.
Access to Growth Capital Expands for Small Businesses in Western New York
July 12, 2018Rochester, New York – July 12, 2018 – Lendio, the nation’s leading marketplace for small business loans, today announced an expansion of the Lendio franchise in Rochester, New York. Lendio Rochester will provide financing solutions to businesses from Syracuse to Buffalo and Niagara Falls to the Canadian border. Lendio franchise owner RJ Muto hopes to ease the financial hurdles for local business owners by helping them apply for loans, review their options and secure funding through Lendio’s network of over 75 lenders.
An online service that helps business owners find the working capital they need to grow their businesses, Lendio’s funding options include SBA loans, startup loans, equipment loans, commercial real estate loans and more. Through franchisees that understand the needs of local business owners, the Lendio franchise program reduces the legwork of looking for a small business loan while bridging the gap between online lenders and the small business community.
Since 2008, accessing financial capital has been difficult for small business owners in upstate New York. In addition to feeling the burden of high taxes in the state, business owners view themselves as outvoted and misrepresented in state government by the massive population of New York City, according to Muto. While residents migrated away from Rochester and Buffalo in record numbers as jobs became scarce, the area is mounting a steady comeback, says Muto, and he hopes to play a role in its rebirth.
“We take a consultant approach to each business we fund,” said Muto. “The goal is to figure out how we can help the business owner thrive and grow. We’ve seen a fantastic response in Rochester. There is a lot of opportunity for small business in this area, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
“RJ and Lendio did a great job for me and my business. He assessed our needs and found several good matches for us—having multiple options speaks volumes,” said Eric Schladebeck, owner of Spencerport Family Apothecary in Spencerport, New York. “We had our funds in such an expedited time frame that I felt as though I was his top priority.”
Between 2015 and 2017, online lenders, including Lendio, funded over $758 million to 11,490 small businesses in the state of New York. These online loans directly generated $1.8 billion in sales for small businesses in New York State and created 20,154 jobs and $795 million in wages. Nearly one-third of these loans went to small businesses in lower-income communities (those below the national median income).
For more information on how to join the Lendio franchise program, visit: https://www.lendio.com/franchise.
About Lendio
Lendio is a free online service that helps business owners find the right small business loans within minutes. With a network of over 75 lenders offering multiple loan products, Lendio’s marketplace is the center of small business lending. Bringing all options together in one place, from short-term specialty financing to long-term, low-interest traditional loans, our technology makes small business lending simple and decreases the amount of time and effort it takes to secure funding. For every loan facilitated on Lendio’s marketplace platform, Lendio Gives, an employee contribution and employer matching program, donates a percentage of funds to low-income entrepreneurs around the world through Kiva.org. More information about Lendio is available at www.lendio.com. Information about Lendio franchising opportunities can be found at www.lendiofranchise.com.
Contact:
Melanie King
Lendio
801.748.4782
melanie.king@lendio.com
iAdvance Now Hires Chief Revenue Officer
July 11, 2018
iAdvance Now announced on Tuesday that it hired John Kuriger as Chief Revenue Officer, who was formerly Vice President at Lendio.
“We believe that John is the missing piece of the puzzle for us to take iAdvance Now to the next level,” said iAdvance Now cofounders Belal Ayoub and Eddie Hamid in a joint statement. “John will bring with him positive changes that will result in benefits for our merchants, our employees, and our strategic partners. We’re looking forward to the future and fulfilling the vision we have for iAdvance Now and couldn’t have picked a better individual to join us on this journey.”
Ayoub told deBanked that hiring Kuriger is part of a larger effort to grow the company’s business. Currently, 90 percent of iAdvance Now’s business comes from its merchant cash advance product. The company, a large ISO with 65 employees, also offers term loans, SBA loans and factoring. But Ayoub said that part of Kuriger’s job will be to develop more business for these other product offerings, and also to help with project management to improve efficiency and overall conversion.
iAdvance Now provides financing to customers in a variety of industries, including medical offices, restaurants, trucking, and beauty salons. Ayoub said that no single industry is dominant in his business and that 100 percent of his business is generated internally. Of the company’s 65 employees, 45 of them are salespeople.
iAdvance Now has a third cofounder, Troy Caruso, who is also the company’s CFO. The company was founded at the end of 2014 and is based in Long Island. Ayoub also said that the company expects to grow this year into next and may move into a larger office.
Breakout Capital Finance Acquires HomeZen, Inc. Technology
July 3, 2018McLean, Va. (July 3, 2018) – Breakout Capital Finance (“Breakout Capital”), a leading technology innovator and small business lending company, announced today that it has acquired HomeZen’s technology. HomeZen is a real estate technology company providing powerful software tools for home sellers using technology to more efficiently and effectively sell their homes.
HomeZen’s innovative core technology enables users to source and evaluate offers in order to achieve the best possible outcome. This technology, which includes calculators and other user tools, will be used by Breakout Capital to empower small businesses searching for working capital solutions. The company plans to unveil a new website incorporating these features later this year.
“Since its inception, Breakout Capital has prioritized being a customer-focused disruptor, seeking out ways to better serve our customers,” said Carl Fairbank, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Breakout Capital. “HomeZen’s technology is incredibly innovative, and it will not only help us improve the way small businesses search and evaluate their options to access working capital, but will also help to empower entrepreneurs to do more with their already limited time.”
“At HomeZen we use technology to empower home sellers with the information and tools they need to easily and cheaply sell their homes,” added Kevin Bennett, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HomeZen. “I’m excited that Breakout Capital will be able to use our technology to simplify what can be a stressful, complicated process for small business owners.”
This is another milestone in the fast growth of Breakout Capital. Throughout 2018, Breakout Capital has rapidly grown loan originations, repeatedly breaking records for new funding volume. In parallel, it has continued to innovate its technology platforms, with notable advances in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and the use of blockchain to support lending operations.
Breakout Capital also recently closed on a substantial new credit facility with Medalist Partners and expanded its headquarters in McLean, Virginia.
About Breakout Capital Finance
Breakout Capital Finance is a leading financial technology company that uses best-in-class technology to provide a wide range of credit solutions to small businesses across the country. Built on the three pillars of transparency, education and advocacy for small business, the company is one of the fastest-growing direct lenders in the space and leads a world-class technology innovation effort. Breakout Capital Finance is a Principal Member of the Innovative Lending Platform Association and is an original advocate for the SmartBoxTM standard for transparency and cost disclosure.
To learn more about Breakout Capital Finance, please visit www.breakoutfinance.com.
