Announcements
Yalber Obtains $20 Million Credit Facility
February 13, 2018
Small business financing company Yalber has announced the closing of a $20 million credit facility from an institutional credit fund focused on specialty finance and related investments.
Yalber CEO Amir Landsman told deBanked that the money was raised primarily in response to increased demand for capital. The company will use the new credit facility to satisfy customer demand for funding and to continue building out its technology platform.
“This is part of the bigger picture of really looking ahead to the future – to advance technology, marketing and customer service,” Landsman said. “For us, this is just the beginning.”
Yalber was founded in 2007, and until now, it has been self-funded.
The New York-based company derives 90 percent of its leads internally with an in-house sales and marketing team.
“We still work with some ISOs,” Landsman said. “We consider the ISO channel as an important one, but we are quite picky.”
Yalber offers small businesses up to $500,000 and so far it has provided more than 5,000 businesses with over $300 million in working capital.
From its original office in New Jersey, which since moved to New York, Yarber now has offices in Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London. Most of the company’s 30 employees are based in New York.
With an emphasis on making the application process simpler and faster, and all online, what is the value in having multiple offices?
Landsman told deBanked that by better understanding local business environments, they can make better credit decisions. And having a local office also gives merchants more comfort, knowing that they can speak to someone familiar with their area.
In the decade since Yalber started in the MCA business, CTO Nir Goshen noted how much the industry has grown.
“When I started with Google AdWords [in 2007], when I searched ‘Merchant Cash Advance,’ Google said ‘too little traffic.’ Today, it’s one of the most expensive ad words. The only one I can think of that’s more expensive is ‘insurance.’”
Yalber’s $20 million financing was raised by Brean Capital.
Fiserv Sells Part of Its Lending Arm for $395 Million
February 9, 2018
Warburg Pincus LLC, a New York-based global private equity firm, announced this week that it has entered into an agreement to purchase 55 percent of its Lending Solutions business of Fiserv for approximately $395 million.
Fiserv, founded in 1984, is a publicly traded global provider of financial services technology solutions and it will retain a 45 percent equity interest in its lending technology business, Fiserv Lending Solutions.
The Brookfield, WI-based company focuses on automotive lending origination technology, automotive lending servicing technology and process solutions, as well as comprehensive mortgage and consumer loan servicing solutions.
“We are pleased to partner with Fiserv and the Lending Solutions leadership team on this new joint venture, which brings together two leading businesses that provide mission-critical solutions to a growing and attractive client base,” said Jim Neary, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus. “We see meaningful opportunity to further build this business into a leading platform in automotive and mortgage lending technology.”
Fiserv Lending Solutions will continue to be headed by its current president, Bret Leech.
LendingPoint Hires Citibank Veteran as New CFO
February 1, 2018
LendingPoint, the Atlanta-based online balance sheet lender, announced today that Citibank veteran Tony Martino would be joining the company as CFO. This comes less than one month after the company’s acquisition of LoanHero, a fully integrated, one-stop-shop loan origination and payments platform. LoanHero helps merchants provide access to consumer finance, increase revenue and eliminate friction at point of sale.
Martino, who worked at Citibank for 18 years in multiple roles including CFO for the bank in Israel and Turkey, said he thinks that LendingPoint’s acquisition of LoanHero “triples the size of the markets available to us.”
LendingPoint focuses on making loans to what it calls “near prime” consumers. The company defines “near prime” to include personal-loan applicants with FICO scores from 600 to 700, according to an earlier discussion with deBanked. LendingPoint has even trademarked “NEARPRIME” as a single word in all capital letters.
The company’s CEO, Tom Burnside, told deBanked in the fall that it received $2.5 billion worth of loan applications in September alone.
“We are delighted to add Tony Martino to our team at LendingPoint,” Burnside said. “His deep experience with multi-product balance sheet lenders as well as his experience in rapidly growing markets match perfectly with where we are in our journey at LendingPoint.”
LendingPoint is not yet four years old and this will be Martino’s first time working at a startup. He told deBanked that he’s very excited about this challenge, but acknowledged that his work overseas in emerging markets, like Poland and Turkey, was a lot like working at a startup.
“Although [LendingPoint] is new,” Martino said, “the employees have a depth of experience here.”
Yellowstone Capital Originates $60 Million in Funded Deals in January
January 31, 2018A company email circulated by Yellowstone Capital late Wednesday afternoon said that they originated $60 million in funded deals for the month of January. That’s a 20% increase over the company’s most recent monthly totals.
The top performing sales rep grossed $302,000 in commission in January alone, the email also stated.
Yellowstone Capital is based in Jersey City, NJ.
BlueVine doubles invoice financing credit lines to up to $5 million
January 30, 2018BlueVine also increases business line of credit to $200,000; opens New Jersey office
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – January 30, 2018 – BlueVine has doubled the credit line size for its invoice factoring product to up to $5 million, underscoring the online business lender’s push to offer fast and flexible working capital financing to small and medium-sized businesses.
BlueVine also increased the limit for its business line of credit product to $200,000 from $150,000, making its Flex Credit product an even more attractive financing option for larger or fast-growing companies.
“In just four years, we’ve dramatically increased our invoice factoring credit line to $5 million, and our business line of credit to $200,000,” BlueVine CEO and founder Eyal Lifshitz said. “We continue to be fully committed to providing business owners with robust financing options to help them thrive.”
BlueVine helped Mindstar Aviation unlock capital trapped in unpaid invoices. The Virginia-based company, which develops and writes software for flight simulators, used to wrestle with cash flow gaps while waiting for customers to pay their bills, which often took 45 days or longer.
BlueVine allowed Mindstar to get cash advances on those invoices.
“Because we have BlueVine in place to make a purchase, we could proceed immediately,” said Johnny Johnson, the company’s executive vice president. “We don’t have to wait, which could impact a project timeline. BlueVine financing is easy. It’s quick. No hassle. BlueVine is not nickel-and-diming people, charging fees here and fees there. It’s really straightforward and easy to understand.”
A business line of credit from BlueVine enabled entrepreneur Jesse Urrutia, owner of MarketMe, a video production company in San Carlos, California, to take on bigger clients and grow his business.
“In the past, if I didn’t have cash to pay for a production, I would just turn down the project,” Urrutia said. “It’s ridiculous to turn business down because you don’t have the money. BlueVine fixed that for us.”
BlueVine also announced the opening of its new office in Jersey City, New Jersey, from where the company hopes to better serve customers and partners on the East Coast. Aside from its headquarters in Redwood City, BlueVine also has offices in New Orleans and Tel Aviv.
BlueVine revolutionized business lending with a highly automated, completely online invoice factoring platform that allows businesses to get advances on unpaid invoices.
In 2016, BlueVine introduced a 6-month business line of credit called Flex Credit based on weekly payments. The company introduced a 12-month line of credit based on monthly payments in 2017.
About BlueVine
BlueVine provides flexible working capital financing to small and medium-sized businesses, giving them quick access to funds needed to purchase inventory, cover expenses, or expand operations. A fintech pioneer, BlueVine developed a fully-online cloud-based platform for invoice factoring, revolutionizing the 4,000-year old financing system that allows businesses to receive cash advances on outstanding invoices. BlueVine also offers FlexCredit, business line of credit financing based on 6-month and 12-month payment terms. Based in Redwood City, Calif., BlueVine has raised $273 million in equity and debt funding and is funded by Lightspeed Venture Partners, 83NORTH, Correlation Ventures, Citi Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Rakuten Fintech Fund and other private investors.
YieldStreet Gets $113M Closer to ‘Changing The Way Wealth is Created’
January 24, 2018New York’s YieldStreet, an alternative investment platform, closed a $113 million financing round earlier this month. The company announced that the round drew $12.8 million in Series A equity financing from the team of Greycroft and Raine Ventures, as well as a $100 million revolving credit facility from an unspecified entity.
Via release, YieldStreet said that the equity will enable it to “accelerate the transformation of wealth creation by investing in further product innovation and growing its loyal community of investors.”
CEO Milind Mehere expanded on this sentiment in the statement. “With the ultimate mission of ‘prosperity for all,’ YieldStreet is making it possible for individual investors to have wealth creation opportunities similar to the top 2%,” he said. “This funding will enable us to bolster our machine learning and data analytics capability for predictive underwriting models, launch new products for non-accredited investors and further fuel our growth towards our mission. I am excited to work with this strong syndicate of investors who understand this opportunity.”
The deal also includes the arrival of Alan Patricof, co-founder of Greycroft, to the YieldStreet advisory board.
“Before YieldStreet, retail investors never had access to institutional quality alternative products,” Patricof said. “We believe that YieldStreet’s leadership team is unmatched and well positioned to deliver on its mission to transform investing.”
Prior to this round, YieldStreet had only raised $3.7 million in equity capital as it focused on diversified alternative asset classes across real estate bridge loans, litigation finance, and commercial finance.
Alternative Financier, White Oak Global Advisors, Turns to CIT for Own Unique Needs
January 23, 2018White Oak Global Advisors, an alternative financier and creditor in its own right has turned to CIT Group Inc. in order to organize a $422 million secured loan for its aviation division, the companies announced last week.
White Oak Commercial Aviation, LP, will use the funds to purchase 20 on-lease wide body aircraft engines from GE Capital Aviation Services. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“CIT’s ADG and Capital Markets teams were razor-focused on delivering a financing structure that would work for us while also meeting lender requirements,” said Andre Hakkak, CEO and co-founder of White Oak via release. “This transaction provides us a foundation to strengthen and grow our focus on providing financing solutions for aviation companies.”
John Heskin, managing director and group head for CIT’s Aerospace, Defense & Government Finance (ADG) team led the transaction with senior investment professionals from White Oak.
“We are pleased we could leverage our deep capital markets expertise to provide a creative solution for this senior secured loan syndication,” said Heskin. “Our understanding of the aerospace industry encompasses whole aircraft as well as parts and engines. This enables us to support the entire aerospace ecosystem from lessors and investors to distributors and manufacturers.”
White Oak currently has over $7 billion of capital invested in over 500 companies. The company provides small and medium size enterprises with term loans, asset-based lending, invoice factoring, trade finance, equipment financing and treasury management. It was launched in 2007.
Lending Disruptor, Rocket Mortgage, Announces First eSports Sponsorship
January 22, 2018Rocket Mortgage has thrown its hat into the burgeoning eSports ring, Quicken Loans, its parent company, announced on Friday. The brand has entered into a sponsorship agreement with the 100 Thieves’ League of Legends division.
Citing a synergy between the end-to-end online and on-demand mortgage product and the “disruptive” world of eSports gaming, Quicken Loans CEO, Jay Farner said via release that Rocket Mortgage is “aligning (its) brand with a subculture that embodies what we stand for as a company – industry disrupting and groundbreaking innovation.”
The deal includes the naming rights to The Rocket Mortgage Team House in Venice, California, logo placement on the 100 Thieves team jerseys and integration into the team’s social media presence.
“The Rocket Mortgage Team House gives us the chance to practice constantly, call team meetings in minutes and build synergy both in and outside of gaming as a team,” said Neil “Pr0lly” Hammad, head coach of 100 Thieves, veteran LoL player and most recently the head coach at H2k-Gaming where he was awarded the title for the EU LCS’s Coach of the Split on three separate occasions. “This is crucial for maintaining a competitive environment, and by handing us the keys to this team house, Rocket Mortgage is helping us prepare to destroy the NA LCS.”
The 100 Thieves eSports team as founded in 2016. In addition to League of Legends, the club has also fielded a team for the popular video game title, Call of Duty.
As for Rocket’s parent, Quicken Loans, the Detroit-based lender is the second largest retail home mortgage lender on U.S. soil. The company closed upwards of $400 billion of mortgage volume across the country between 2013 and 2017.
