Announcements

BB&T Taps $50M for Cutting Edge Tech Investments

January 22, 2018
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BB&T
BB&T in Lexington, NC – Photo credit: Dennis Brown. License

BB&T has earmarked $50M for a deep dive into “emerging digital technology,” the company announced last week. The bank will look to either invest in, or acquire companies in the space.

“The sizable investment” is meant to improve the customer-experience for BB&T’s client base while simultaneously lowering operating costs.

“This sizable investment in financial technology companies represents an important strategic milestone in our digital business transformation,” said BB&T chairman and CEO Kelly S. King via release.

”We’re excited about the possibility of new partnerships and innovative approaches to provide the best possible experience for our clients.”

The bank began its focus on digital business in 2015 following the appointment of W. Bennett Bradley as chief digital officer.

“A significant investment in fintech puts BB&T on an aggressive pace to more quickly navigate our digital road map and further foster a culture of innovation throughout the company,” Bradley said in the same release.. “Things are changing rapidly and we, like many financial institutions, have to move faster to meet and exceed our clients’ expectations. While an investment in fintech is just one component of our digital transformation, it’s a powerful way for us to gain greater access to new technologies and talent.”

BB&T currently handles more than $220B in assets and a market capitalization of $37B.

Fundbox Launches Fuse, A Funding Express Lane Designed to Increase SaaS ‘Stickiness’

January 22, 2018
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Fundbox announced the launch of Fuse, a new credit-integration service, on Monday morning. Via Fuse, SaaS business providers can now access Fundbox from within their workflows with just three lines of code.

“For small business owners, the process of applying for financing continues to be an arduous and demotivating journey that for many, does not end well,” the company stated in a release. “Since 2008 when the economic bubble burst, most banks made their small business underwriting processes more stringent in an attempt to mitigate potential risks from defaults.”

According to the Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index, in December 2017 only 25.3% of small business loan applicants are being approved for funding, leaving the other 74.4% struggling to find alternative avenues through which to pay vendors and stay afloat.

Thus, not only are small business owners hampered, but SaaS providers that cater to these budding enterprises take a blow as well.

Citing a 2016 survey developed by the SaaS growth marketing agency, Cobloom, the average SaaS provider serving small businesses faces between 5-7% customer churn on an annual basis. A significant factor for this volatility is strains on customer’s cash flow.

Fundbox believes that they can alleviate this situation by offering easy access to its lending products via the SaaS services themselves.

“For our SaaS partners, we intentionally created a solution that was easy to integrate, increases service value and customer stickiness with just a few lines of code,” said Sebastian Rymarz, chief business officer at Fundbox via statement. “And for small business owners, we’ve ‘democratized’ access to credit and the underwriting process right from within your favorite business app or platform.”

“We’re excited to partner with Fundbox and to add Fuse to our service,” said Ryan Jackson, founder and CEO of Paid, via release. “Anyone who works closely with small business owners knows that time and cash flow are their two most important assets. With Fundbox Fuse, our customers get the convenience of accessing credit without having to leave our workflow and we get the additional service value and retention stickiness.”

Finn & Co, Inc. To Manage Two New Equity/Debt Funds

December 14, 2017
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Below is a letter that was circulated by Finn & Co, Inc.

Finn & Co, Inc. is pleased to report the formation of two new equity/debt private equity funds to be managed by our firm. The first of these two funds is a US$100M equity fund which will seek investments in the MLM Industry (multi-level-marketing). This fund will be seeking and entertaining opportunities in North and South America as well as Europe. It is the intention of the fund to have heavy concentrations of ownership in relatively few investments and in addition to the contribution of the invest cash, it is the intention of the fund to offer geographical business partnerships with Asian ‘like-type’ MLM entities. The second fund is a US$200M debt/equity fund engaged in lending to the MCA Industry (merchant cash advance). This fund will offer senior debt, sub-debt and equity investments to the MCA industry here in America and in specific areas of Asia. The management of these funds will embrace additional industry experienced individuals and hopes to ‘fill a void’ of available capital for these traditionally difficult ‘to bank’ business endeavors.

Finn & Co. Merchant Banking Activities at this time.

Please review the following activities of our firm in the areas of consulting, merger and acquisition assignments and current capital fundraising activities. Finn & Co. has recently completed valuations for operating companies engaged within the Direct Sales/MLM industries and that of aerospace and defense. In addition, we are currently engaged with multiple capital raising assignments for companies within the following industries: Nutrition Products, Merchant Credit Advance (MCA), Medical services, Tobacco, Fish Farming, Oil Refinery, Lodging, Technology, Consumer Water Bottlers and the financing of Credit Card Receivables. Finn & Co., Inc. has active M&A assignments detailed later in this communication. We welcome your inquiries for valuation assignments, merger and acquisition advisory services, and capital fundraising needs.

Merger and Acquisition Assignments:

(1) Binocular Manufacturers: The Purchaser is a manufacturer of ‘high end’ binoculars, ground, airborne and maritime Electro-Optic/Infrared cameras sold primarily to the military and law enforcement communities. This acquirer is engaged in the design, development and sale of advanced optical devices to expand its domestic and international sales and is seeking manufacturers of related devices targeting the commercial, law enforcement and military markets. Asian and European-based manufacturers of binoculars and vehicle cameras are of a particular interest to this acquirer. In addition, the buyer is interested in the purchase of optics companies with strong R&D personnel — specializing in the development of binoculars, rifle scopes, and any and all related advanced EO/IR technology. This acquirer will entertain joint-ventures in place or in lieu of outright purchase or merger.

(2) Fish Processing Companies: The acquirer is an international integrated fishing enterprise engaged in catching, processing, and value-added functions in the worldwide fishing industry. This company desires to acquire a value-added fish processing company located in the USA. The desired company will be profitable at the time of purchase, selling into the retail market, restaurants, and the cruise ship sector of the marketplace.

(3) Health Care:

  • (A) Seeking Acquisition Targets operating in business process outsourcing, employment, staffing, billing, surgery centers, and ancillary services to health care industry. The target platform company should have an EBITDA of between US$5M and US$20M.
  • (B) Home Health & Hospice: Seeking a home health and hospice platform acquisition in any Geographical area, if the acquisition target enjoys US$3.0M in EBITDA or more AND Management team is willing to remain with the company post the acquisition is completed.
  • (C) Large, publicly traded NYSE ‘for profit’ hospital ownership and management company seeking additional ‘hospital’ acquisitions and/or management contracts. While any ‘locale’ will be entertained, the States west of the Mississippi River are preferred.

(4) Multi-Level-Marketing Industry/Direct Sales: We continue to seek North American, Latin American and Asian-based operating MLM/direct selling companies for various buyers and investors. We have multiple buyers of nutritional products, cosmetics, personal and health care companies, lingerie sellers, fashion jewelry and other consumable products. The targeted acquisition or investment opportunity can range in annual sales size from US$25M to as large as multi-hundred million dollar sales companies located in the USA. We have interest in direct sales/MLM companies with annual revenues of US$10M or greater located outside the continental boundaries of the USA. These American and non-American buyers are either currently operating MLM entities or are the investment arm of non-USA based MLM operating companies, all of which have a long and “in-depth” operating knowledge of the industry and are anxious to expand their businesses into the USA, Canada, Latin America and/or Asia. The buyers or investors are prepared to purchase 100% of any entity or are prepared to partner with a seller that wishes to maintain some equity ownership and a management role. Our buyers will require at least 51% equity ownership.

(5) Nutritional Products

  • (A) Manufacturers (third party): We are seeking third party nutritional products manufacturers of tablets, capsules, powders, gels, and liquids. There is a particular interest to acquire a liquids manufacturer at this time. The targeted companies should possess the appropriate industry certifications and conform to recent government-imposed manufacturing processing requirements. The targeted companies will have annual sales of US$15M or larger.
  • (B) Branded Nutritional Products: Sold via retail chains, direct through mail order or online. The more ‘direct’ the sale method of delivery, the stronger the interest from our buyer.

(6) Food

  • (A) Hispanic Food Suppliers: Our client is an acquirer of North American-based manufacturing and distribution companies offering Hispanic foods and related items to the wholesale or retail marketplace. The candidate will have a known brand name and an obvious presence in the Hispanic community and a recognized name or product to the Hispanic food buyer.
  • (B) Restaurant Chains: A currently operating restaurant team is seeking restaurant chains with annual sales of US$50M or more and EBITDA of US$5M or more. The target chain could be an independent restaurant concept, a franchisor, or a franchisee. Minority Recaps/and or Growth Equity will also be considered.
  • (C) Branded Food companies: We represent a financial buyer of ‘branded’ food companies. The targeted candidate will have annual sales sufficient to generate an EBIT of US$10M or greater. The food offering can be across a wide spectrum of food offerings and will be considered a national brand.

(7) Aerospace/Defense:

  • (A) We have multiple buyers seeking aerospace and defense operating companies that will range in annual sales size from US$20M to US$250M. The ideal candidate will currently be a supplier of materials and/or parts to the aerospace after-market, manufacturer of such parts and supplies, a provider to the aerospace/defense industry and/or engaged in a business relationship within the industry that allows it to participate in any of the ongoing support and/or replacement vendor positions in this after-market sector.
  • (B) In addition to our above targets, we represent a US$200M sales company, privately-owned, seeking an aerospace manufacturer. Tight tolerance machining and/ or the manufacturing of aerospace/defense parts are the two areas of interest. Turnarounds and under-performing companies will be considered. The preferred size target is an entity generating revenue of US$25M to US$250M.
  • (C) We represent a buyer of “Type Certificates” of established aircraft. These airplane types are currently in operation but not in production and range from piston propeller, turbo propeller and/or jet engine type aircraft.
  • (D) Security Companies: We are seeking businesses that offer services to the military or law enforcement markets associated with intelligence gathering, manufacturers of security equipment, service companies that are engaged in the guarding and maintaining of premises, sea-going security in the area of anti-piracy and other related services.
  • (E) Hand Gun, Rifle and Shotgun Manufacturers: We are seeking USA and/or Western European hand-held weapons manufacturers. There is a particular interest on the part of the buyer in a manufacturer that is currently supplying its weapons to the military and/or law enforcement communities.

    The financing of ‘gun’ or related companies in today’s banking marketplace is most challenging. Finn & Co. is in a position to offer short and long term credits as well as growth capital to gun industry-related operating, profitable companies. If you or your clients are in need of working capital or acquisition capital, we would be most pleased to work with you.

  • (F) A&D, Medical Products or Photonics Industries: Our Client is seeking a USA-based manufacturing operation in the highly regulated aforementioned industries. Acquisition opportunities with annual sales/revenues of up to US$100M and EBIT of US$10M are the size range of our client’s investment interest.

(8) Oil and Gas

  • (A) Service and Support Companies: We are seeking North American-based oil and gas industry service and support companies. The targeted prospect might offer a service for ‘on-shore’ or ‘off-shore’ drillers, maintenance of wells, work-over and stimulation of wells, transportation and security management. The targeted company could be solely domestic or international in its operations. Our clients have a decided interest in targeted acquisitions that represent what would be defined as the larger participants in the industry, in short ‘the bigger the better’.
  • (B) Large Oil and Gas proven properties seeking a sale or requiring large capital investment. These properties will be domestic locales with proven oil and/or gas reserves that can be currently producing or not. The buyer/investor will entertain the outright purchase of the property or a joint venture with the current owners.

(9) Trailer Manufacturers and Distributors: We are seeking manufacturers and/or distributors of ‘open and closed’ commercial trailers that would traditionally be pulled by a pickup or SUV and used in a wide variety of activities, both for commercial and private family purposes. Our client has a present interest in acquiring additional closed box trailer manufacturers or large distributors.

(10) Water Treatment Companies: Manufacturers of water treatment equipment, new technologies for the purification of water, and companies offering deliveries of commercial water supplies. All water related opportunities entertained.

(11) Consumer Products, Consumer Durables, Retail or Retail Services: We have a buyer of companies in the aforementioned sectors (logistics, e-commerce, etc.). The minimum required EBITDA is US$3M.

(12) Risk-based Consulting Services: Our client is a platform entity engaged as a provider of risk-based consulting services including – Internal Audit, IT Audit, Information Security, Corporate Governance and Regulatory Compliance. Our client would like to grow their business with the acquisition of similar type functioning companies both domestic and international.

Family Related Operating Companies:

Tethys Corporation: a holding company that has as its investment criteria the acquisition and/or investment in the aerospace/defense/medical or medical service industries. Tethys will also entertain ‘control’ investments in security companies and/or service companies servicing the military, diplomatic or international work-place.

Blue Steel Ventures, www.bluesteelventures.com. This ‘alternative’ wholesale funder of the Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) industry is a provider of senior debt, sub-debt and equity investments to established operators of merchant cash advance providers. Blue Steel Ventures will entertain loans and investments of US$2M to US$30M or more subject to the specifics of the MCA applicant.

Board Assignments:

Members of the Finn & Co organization currently sit on Boards of Directors or finance committees of various commercial and non-profit companies and/or organizations. We particularly wish to expand our assignments of Directors and Members of the Board of commercial companies here in the USA. We are prepared to entertain appointments to private or public corporations, located anywhere in the USA. Any inquiries or suggestions that you might wish to offer would be warmly received.

We would be most pleased to hear from you concerning your interest and needs for any of our consulting services, capital raising or M&A activities listed in this communication. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely yours,

Kenneth R. Finn
Chairman
Finn & Company, Inc.

Kenneth R. Finn
Finn & Co., Inc.
Merchant Bankers
5776-D Lindero Canyon Road, #382
Westlake Village, CA 91362
(818) 219-3097(818) 219-3097
krfinn2001@yahoo.com

Wyoming Location
4350 Fallen Leaf Lane
Jackson, WY 83001
(307) 203-2556(307) 203-2556
krfinn2001@yahoo.com

Yellowstone Capital Surpasses $2 Billion in Originations

December 8, 2017
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Jersey City-based Yellowstone Capital has surpassed $2 billion in originated deals. The milestone was announced Thursday evening at the company’s year-end holiday soirée.

The company was founded in 2009.

DataMerch.com Surges Past 10,000 Records

November 28, 2017
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Online underwriting database for the alternative financing industry experiences wide adoption and growth

datamerch logoTampa, FL, November 28, 2017 – Today, DataMerch.com, an online underwriting database for the alternative financing industry, announced that they have surpassed over 10,000 records in their database. After creating the online database only 2 years ago, DataMerch has experienced rapid growth in users and records to reach this milestone.

Director of Credit Risk Management at 1 st Merchant Funding LLC Dylan Edwards commented, “DataMerch has been an excellent resource for 1 st Merchant. We’ve been able to get additional information on potential clients that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. This really helps our underwriting decisions and adds another layer of safeguard. It’s something our industry needed for a long time.”

“DataMerch has been an excellent resource for 1st Merchant. We’ve been able to get additional information on potential clients that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

– Dylan Edwards, Director of Credit Risk Management at 1st Merchant Funding

“We make it easy for our members to search and enter records on our platform,” said Co-Founder Scott Williams. “Members can easily enter records manually, send us an excel spreadsheet for mass uploads, or they can integrate their underwriting software using our API to automate the process.” Scott added, “We are thrilled to see the enthusiasm and positive feedback we have received. Funders see the value DataMerch brings by revealing if a future client has a bad track record in the alternative funding industry. DataMerch can literally save a funder hundreds of thousands of dollars; that’s why we have been able to grow so much in the first few years. We expect the growth of members and records to continue to grow at a rapid pace.”

DataMerch’s leadership said they plan to continue to add new features and improvements to their platform. DataMerch currently offers members fraud alerts, API access, unlimited searches and uploads, personal support, and more. They plan to offer data reporting and analytics for trends within different categories soon.

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 40 industry-leading subscribed members working together as a community. DataMerch continues to grow subscriber base and record count daily. DataMerch can be accessed at https://www.datamerch.com and contacted at support@datamerch.com

Source: DataMerch LLC

Kabbage Taps Debt Capital Markets for a Cool $200 Mil

November 16, 2017
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Kabbage LogoKabbage has been accessing the capital markets fast and furiously, most recently on the debt side. Today they’ve announced a new $200 million asset backed revolving credit facility with Credit Suisse. Just a couple of months ago, Kabbage attracted $250 million in equity to its coffers from SoftBank, which the alternative funder will direct toward ongoing operational expenses and expansion.

With the Credit Suisse deal, the tally for Kabbage’s debt funding capacity reaches $750 million. “The new revolving credit facility will be issued by Kabbage Asset Funding 2017-A LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kabbage Inc,” according to a press release.

Kabbage expects the credit facility will help them to scale faster. They plan to use the credit to add bigger small businesses to its client roster as well as extend higher lines of credit with longer durations.

“The new revolving credit facility with Credit Suisse is a debt round. Those funds are for our small business customers, and will be used to continue to provide them with easy access to working capital,” Deepesh Jain, Kabbage Head of Capital Markets, told deBanked.

It’s Kabbage’s maiden credit facility to be rated by credit rating agency DBRS. “The top two classes of the multi-class transaction earned investment-grade ratings of ‘A’ and ‘BBB’ and are collateralized entirely with assets originated through Kabbage’s fully-automated underwriting technology,” according to the press release.

Jain told deBanked the DRBS rating is highly significant. “It strongly demonstrates the proven success of Kabbage’s fully-automated platform and its data-driven risk analysis for small business lending. It speaks to the company’s leading position in the SMB-lending marketplace and Wall Street’s confidence in Kabbage,” he noted.

As Jain pointed out, Credit Suisse has been an early supporter of fintech. Indeed, the Swiss bank a year ago similarly provided a $200 million asset-backed revolving credit facility to another alternative funder, OnDeck.

Alternative Funders and Bank Partnerships in the Spotlight

Jain declined to comment on whether Credit Suisse might be interested in Kabbage’s lending platform for its own use. Alternative funder and banking partnerships were recently thrust into the spotlight with a lawsuit filed by a Massachusetts-based small business owner against Kabbage and Celtic Bank, which have had a partnership for at least several years.

The lawsuit alleges that the funding model of the defendants “was designed to evade usury laws,” according to The National Law Review. Apparently, the plaintiffs, which are listed in the public filing as Alice Indelicato and NRO Boston, had several small business loans and now accuse Kabbage of “renting” Celtic’s bank charter. Jain declined to comment on the lawsuit and the plaintiffs couldn’t be reached.

Capital Markets Pipeline

Meanwhile, at the rate they are going, we could see Kabbage tap the capital markets again in 2018. “Capital markets are something we will continue to explore to further diversify our funding options,” said Jain.

LENDUP HIRES FIRST CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, ANNOUNCES SIGNIFICANT GROWTH MILESTONES

November 7, 2017
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Bill Donnelly, a 30-year consumer credit veteran, joins as LendUp’s first CFO; Chief Data Scientist and General Manager of Loans also join Company’s innovative products have saved customers $150M and delivered 1.7M education courses

San Francisco, November 8, 2017 LendUp, a socially responsible fintech company for the emerging middle class, today announced that Bill Donnelly, former VP of Global Financial Services for Tesla, has joined as its first CFO. The company further strengthened its leadership team with the addition of a General Manager for its loans business and a Chief Data Scientist.

“Our strengthened leadership team, from some of the world’s fastest-growing and most impactful companies, will help LendUp accelerate our efforts to build a lasting, iconic company that will be a category leader for years to come,” said Orloff.

LendUp Bill DonnellyDonnelly is a 30-year consumer credit veteran with extensive experience in credit cards and loans products. Donnelly spent the last four years with Tesla as VP of Global Financial Services, responsible for providing financing solutions for Tesla’s customers across 29 countries. He also served as President of Tesla’s captive finance company, Tesla Finance LLC, which offered an industry-leading leasing program innovative for its consumer-friendly agreement and for being the first end-to-end electronic lease with the ability to execute contracts on a vehicle’s touchscreen.

“We couldn’t be more excited to have an executive of Bill’s caliber join our quickly expanding team,” said Sasha Orloff, co-founder and CEO of LendUp. “Tesla is one of the most innovative companies in the world, and completely disrupted the sleepy auto industry. Bill’s experience leading complex global financing programs, and building first-of-their-kind, mobile-first platforms, will be invaluable to us as we continue to build out our product ecosystem and be on the forefront of serving more Americans in need of better financial services options.”

Donnelly previously spent a decade with BMW. As CFO and then President of its industrial bank, he led BMW’s credit card program and was awarded a patent for a new credit card product. In addition, Donnelly’s background includes more than 15 years with the credit card, installment loan, and automotive finance divisions of JPMorgan Chase. He was also President and CEO of retail card issuer First Electronic Bank, where he led the bank’s turnaround and achieved record profits.

“I have long admired LendUp for the important work the company is doing to expand credit access and help people improve their financial health,” said Donnelly. “At Tesla I witnessed how a strong sense of mission combined with a talented, passionate team can lead to incredible success and to overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges. I have found that same sense of mission among LendUp’s amazingly talented and passionate team. I look forward to leading our finance organization and serving as a strategic partner to the entire team as we continue building innovative and mobile-first financial services products. Together, I can’t wait to achieve extraordinary success — for our customers and for our investors.”

In addition to Donnelly, Anu Shultes has joined as General Manager of the company’s loans business, which recently surpassed $1.25 billion in originations. Shultes has 25 years of experience in financial services across lending and credit card products, primarily focused on underserved consumers. Shultes is passionate about financial inclusion, and has managed multi-billion-dollar loan portfolios and built $1B businesses from product launch to widespread adoption. Shultes most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of mobile-first global gifting platform Swych, and before that served in senior leadership roles at Blackhawk Network, AccountNow, National City Bank, and Providian Financial.

Dr. Leonard Roseman has joined LendUp as Chief Data Scientist, to lead a growing team that uses Machine Learning to improve financial inclusion through expanded credit access and lowering the cost of credit to borrowers. Dr. Roseman has 30 years of experience in modeling credit risk, pricing, and model risk capital. He has worked with a variety of companies as a statistician, technical consultant, and strategy consultant focused on experimental design, predictive modeling, and strategic analysis. Roseman most recently served as Head of Group Decision Sciences at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and before that served as Deputy Chief Model Risk Officer at Capital One.

LendUp is also announcing a number of significant growth and social impact milestones. The company has now saved its borrowers $150 million in fees and interest through use of its credit card and loan products. These savings have helped close the gap caused by poor credit, which costs Americans roughly $250,000 more over the course of their lifetimes. Additionally, consumers have taken LendUp’s free online financial education courses more than 1.7 million times. Finally, the company launched one of the most innovative credit cards out of beta at the beginning of 2017.

About LendUp
LendUp is a socially responsible fintech company on a mission to redefine financial services for the emerging middle class—the 56% of Americans shut out of mainstream banking due to poor credit or income volatility. LendUp builds tech-enabled loans and credit cards paired with educational experiences to help people save money and get on a path to better financial health.

Follow LendUp
Twitter: @LendUpCredit
Facebook: facebook.com/LendUpCredit
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/LendUp

6th Avenue Capital Secures $60 Million Commitment For Merchant Cash Advance Funding

November 2, 2017
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Highly Experienced Executive Team Offers Flexible Financing Options to Small Businesses

New York City – November 2, 2017 – 6th Avenue Capital, LLC (“6th Avenue Capital”), a leading provider of small business financing solutions, announced today its securement of a $60 million commitment from a large institutional investor. The investor made their commitment based on 6th Avenue Capital’s industry-leading underwriting, compliance standards and processes. 6th Avenue Capital will draw from this commitment to offer merchant cash advances to small businesses through its nationwide network of Independent Sales Organizations (“ISOs”) and other strategic partnerships, such as banks and small business associations.

6th Avenue Capital launched formal operations in 2016 to help finance small businesses that are often ineligible for funding due to traditional underwriting criteria. 6th Avenue Capital evaluates each application for funding individually and keeps the merchant’s short and long-term needs in mind including, most importantly, what they can afford. 6th Avenue Capital also understands that small businesses may need funding quickly. The company’s data-driven underwriting processes, expertise and technology can give the merchant secure and equitable approvals of qualified requests and funding within hours.

Leading the team, CEO Christine Chang oversees all strategic aspects of 6th Avenue Capital. She also serves as COO to sister company Nexlend Capital Management, LLC. She brings more than 20 years experience in institutional asset management, including alternative lending. Previously, Chang served as Chief Compliance Officer at Alternative Investment Management, LLC, COO at New York Private Bank & Trust and Vice President at Credit Suisse. She serves on the board of Blueprint Capital Advisors, LLC and Bottomless Closet, a not-for-profit empowering economic self-sufficiency in disadvantaged NYC women.

“Our mission at 6th Avenue Capital is to help small businesses grow, and we continue to expand our existing network of ISO and strategic partners to ensure these businesses have access to capital in hours,” said Chang. “Our leadership team of financial industry experts has extensive experience navigating multiple economic cycles. We know how to serve merchants and how to deliver quickly while meeting the highest operational standards for our investors.”

COO Darren Schulman joined the team in March 2017. Schulman is a 20-year veteran of the alternative finance and banking industries. He is responsible for oversight of 6th Avenue Capital’s origination, underwriting, operations and collections, as well as strategic initiatives. Schulman served previously as COO at Capify (formerly AmeriMerchant), a global small business financing company, and President and CFO at MRS Associates, a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company specializing in collections. In addition, Schulman was an Executive Vice President at MTB Bank.

“We form strong relationships with the merchant and consider it essential for our underwriters to speak to every merchant, on every deal, regardless of its size,” said Schulman. “We also make our underwriters available for discussions with ISOs whenever necessary. We are proud to offer competitive volume-based commissions, buyback rates and white label solutions.”

About 6th Avenue Capital, LLC
6th Avenue Capital is changing the small business financing landscape by offering a data-driven underwriting process and fast access to capital. The company employs a unique blend of industry experts and is committed to the highest operating standards, high touch merchant service, including a policy of direct merchant access to underwriters. 6th Avenue Capital is a sister company of Nexlend Capital Management, LLC, a fintech investment management firm founded in 2014 and focused on marketplace lending (consumer loans). For more information, visit www.6thavenuecapital.com.

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