Announcements
Site Note: New server
August 30, 2021deBanked upgraded to a new server over the weekend, a long overdue enhancement that will more than double the processing power and workload the site can handle. Users may experience occasional glitches or bugs over the next few days while kinks from the transfer are ironed out.
If you spot a major error, please email info@debanked.com.
Thanks for your understanding. This update is unrelated to this.
Intuit Originated $232M in Small Business Loans in Fiscal Year 2021
August 30, 2021Intuit, 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.
Something’s Coming
August 27, 2021Update: Surprise, it’s the industry’s first reality show.
On Monday, deBanked will make an announcement about something new. What could it be? Any ideas?
I guess you’ll have to find out by subscribing to our email newsletter. Of if you’re already subscribed, stay tuned.
🙂
Stacey Huddleston Joins Seacoast Business Funding
August 17, 2021Boynton Beach, FL – August 16, 2021 – Seacoast Business Funding is pleased to announce the addition of Stacey Huddleston as Vice President, Business Development Officer. Mr. Huddleston is based in the Midwest and will focus on expanding the Seacoast portfolio in the region. He brings over twenty years of expertise in the financial and alternative lending space providing creative solutions for businesses with complex financial needs.
Seacoast is focused on driving growth and cultivating client relationships to meet the increasing financial needs of businesses throughout their lifecycles. I am confident Stacey’s extensive industry knowledge and relationship-driven approach will drive growth and strengthen our presence across the Midwest region. He will make a welcomed addition to the team,” remarked, Jay Atkins, President of Seacoast Business Funding.
Huddleston is a US Army Veteran who holds a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University and an MBA from Baker University. He has held many distinguished positions throughout his career dedicated to providing businesses with financing to meet their strategic goals. “I am pleased to be joining Seacoast Business Funding. Their focus on ensuring businesses receive the right custom funding solutions is what sets them apart. The opportunity to be part of such an experienced and client-focused team is exciting, and I look forward to driving successful growth for Seacoast in the Midwest,” commented Huddleston. Mr. Huddleston is a member of the SF Net, International Factoring Association, and Association for Corporate Growth. For deal inquiries, Stacey may be contacted by email at stacey.huddleston@seacoastbf.com or by phone at 816-372-5223.
About Seacoast Business Funding
Seacoast Business Funding provides customized and timely working capital financing solutions to small and middle-market companies engaged mainly in business services, distribution, manufacturing and staffing with annual sales ranging from $1 million to $200 Million. Credit facilities are in the form of Factoring, Invoice Purchasing or Asset-Based agreements. Seacoast Business Funding is a Division of Seacoast National Bank. Member FDIC. For more information visit SeacoastBusinessFunding.com.
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Reliant Funding Announces Steve Kietz as New CEO
August 10, 2021Industry veteran and former Chief Marketing Officer is appointed Chief Executive Officer of the leading alternative finance company
San Diego, CA (August 10, 2021) – Reliant Funding, a leading small business finance company, today announced that it has named Steve Kietz to the role of Chief Executive Officer. Kietz previously served as the firm’s Chief Marketing Officer. The industry veteran will guide Reliant Funding on its mission to continue providing world-class, customized finance solutions for American Small Businesses.
As CMO, Kietz was instrumental in expanding Reliant Funding’s marketing, risk and technology initiatives. He is a seasoned financial services professional with a more than 30-year track record of leading successful teams and is widely recognized as an industry leader in cultivating strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Reliant, Kietz served as President of Inte Q, was Founder and CEO of Mobile Money Ventures (which was acquired by Intuit), and held leading roles at Citi and JP Morgan, including President of Citibank Direct. Outside the profession, Kietz has volunteered as Vice President of the Familial Dysautonomia Foundation for over 30 years.
Commenting on his appointment, Kietz said, “I’m excited and grateful for the opportunity to lead Reliant Funding into a new era, where we are positioned as industry leaders in delivering value to our customers. The company has a long history of providing outstanding financial solutions to small businesses and I am deeply humbled to continue this legacy. I am excited to lead a team of great people and I look forward to continuing to execute our mission.”
Reliant Funding has grown rapidly as it seeks to help small businesses across the country in achieving their financial goals, having provided nearly $2 billion in funding to over 30,000 companies since 2008. The nationally recognized company works to provide tailored financial solutions, regardless of business size. Reliant Funding is owned by Angelo Gordon, a leading global alternative investment firm that provides research-driven investment solutions, driven by their 30+ years of expertise.
Art Peponis, Head of Private Equity at Angelo Gordon, said, “Steve has been instrumental in building Reliant Funding to the leading alternative finance company it is today and has been pivotal in its ability to continue to provide support to small businesses impacted by the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. His decades of expertise, innovative perspective and dedication to our people and small businesses made him the perfect fit as the new CEO of Reliant Funding. We’re confident that he will continue to provide American small businesses with the access to funding they need and the service that assists them in accomplishing their goals. The future is bright for Reliant Funding.”
For more information on Reliant Funding, please click here.
Reliant Funding, headquartered in San Diego, provides customized, short-term funding to small and mid-sized businesses nationwide. For more information, please visit www.reliantfunding.com.
Angelo Gordon, headquartered in New York City, is a global alternative investment company, focused on credit and real estate. For more information, please visit www.angelogordon.com.
Fundworks Completes a Refinancing of its Capital Structure of up to $70 Million
July 13, 2021VAN NUYS, CA, July 13, 2021: The Fundworks, LLC, a leading a tech-enabled small business finance company, announced the recent closing of a $25.0 million Credit Facility with a commercial bank and the sale of $20.0 million of Senior Secured Notes to a group of U.S.-based institutional investors. The Credit Facility is expandable up to a maximum of $50.0 million, representing a total capital raise of up to $70.0 million. These transactions refinanced the Company’s existing Senior Credit Facility and subordinated debt and provide substantial excess capital to fund the continued growth of its small business funding platform.
“We are very pleased to announce this financing, which will allow us to significantly expand our ability to provide funding to our small business client base,“ said Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Evan Smiedt. “This new capital strategically positions The Fundworks to be the funder of choice for small businesses as they re-accelerate growth after a difficult and uncertain 2020. Quick access to capital is key for small businesses to succeed and we are very happy to be well capitalized when our clients need us the most.”
“Given the volatile markets and challenging funding environment in our sector, our ability to close these transactions with multiple, large and established financial institutions is a strong endorsement of the The Fundworks and the continued efforts by our employees and partners to put our clients first,“ said Bradley Smiedt, Co-Founder and Chairman. “We look at the closing of this financing as a significant next step in the growth and success of our Company.”
Brean Capital, LLC served as the Company’s Exclusive Financial Advisor and Placement Agent on both transactions.
About The Fundworks:
The Fundworks is a tech-enabled finance platform providing working capital solutions to merchants to grow their businesses, take advantage of short-term opportunities and fund seasonal business fluctuations. The Company’s proprietary technology platform makes the opaque, time-consuming process of obtaining capital simple, fast and reliable. Since inception, Fundworks has funded nearly $400 million to over 8,300 small businesses throughout the United States. The Company is headquartered in Van Nuys, CA. For more information, please visit: https://www.thefundworks.com/.
For more information/ questions/ interview requests / media inquiries, please contact: Evan Smiedt
Email: info@thefundworks.com | Phone: (844) 644-FUND
DataMerch.com Surpasses 50,000 Records
July 7, 2021Tampa, July 7th, 2021 /DeBanked/ — DataMerch.com, an online underwriting database for the alternative financing industry, announced they had surpassed 50,000 records in their database. The company that was founded in 2015 has grown to become an industry standard in up front application screening.
“Our records are unique because they are a datapoint that doesn’t exist anywhere else,” said Co-Founder Cody Burgess. “The challenging part when underwriting in the alternative financing industry is that credit and other reports only carry so much information. Our records are entered directly by our funder-members, so it’s easy access to see what type of history a merchant business has in our industry.” When asked what differentiates DataMerch records from other reports, Mr. Burgess responded, “Some of our categories are unique, like suspicious activity, slow pay, split payer, and Covid-19 Hardship. Our largest category is Default, which is also often difficult, if not impossible, to find on other reports. All data we hold is reported directly from our members, so it’s direct communication without aggregating all sorts of other information. We believe it is simple and powerful information for any underwriting department.”
DataMerch leadership say they will continue to grow their record count in the years ahead and hope to surpass 100,000 records in the future. They also hinted at upcoming updates to standardize uploading records moving forward with a rolling minimum upload requirement. Management says this will ensure that all members will evenly contribute moving forward and will help with the long-term success of the platform.
About DataMerch
DataMerch LLC was founded in 2015 to help funders in the alternative financing industry make informed underwriting decisions. DataMerch members can screen their applications using DataMerch’s specifically designed FEIN search and enter unsatisfactory businesses into the database. DataMerch currently has over 110 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
LendAcademy P2P/Investor Forum is Returning
June 14, 2021The P2P Lending/Investor Forum formerly at LendAcademy.com is coming back!
In late May, the online forum at LendAcademy.com went offline. Soon after, the forum URL was redirected to a note from the company that said the server hosting the data was no longer accessible.
“Upon further investigation it seems that our web hosting company, GC Solutions, has suddenly gone out of business,” they wrote. “We can no longer access our web portal to manage the site. We have left voicemails and emails so far to no avail. We received no warning and were taken completely by surprise. The backups we have are also with the hosting company.”
With the data seemingly permanently lost, deBanked acquired the rights to it last week (just the forum), with the hope that some proprietary methods of forensic recovery would be successful. A significant portion of the forum has since been restored, hosted now at debanked.com/p2pforum.
It is still a work in progress. There are still formatting issues and a number of missing posts. Passwords were also lost. If you were a user on the forum and wish for your account access to be restored, you must email us at info@debanked.com.
Thank you for your patience.
deBanked is affiliated with 3 other forums as well, namely:
deBanked Forums
DailyFunder
Small-Business-Forum.net
The original post announcing the loss: