- Lendio — one of the nation’s largest marketplaces for small business loans — announced it raised $55 million in funding
Lendio — one of the nation’s largest marketplaces for small business loans — announced recently that it raised $55 million in funding, including $31 million in equity led by Mercato Partners’ Traverse Fund and a $24 million debt facility from Signature Bank.
The equity round was oversubscribed by existing investors, including Napier Park Financial Partners, Comcast Ventures, Blumberg Capital, Stereo Capital, and Runa Capital. And the funding round enables Lendio to increase the scope and precision of its loan marketplace while expanding new bookkeeping and lender services functions.
In the past two years, Lendio’s year-over-year growth rate has averaged 75%. And the company grew to be the largest small business financing marketplace in the US. So far the company facilitated over 100,000 loans totaling $2 billion through a combination of leading technology, data science and personalized expert guidance.
Small business owners can receive a loan by filling out a 15-minute online loan application processed by Lendio’s machine learning algorithms and matched with a pool of suitable lenders. And Lendio’s team of loan experts reviews these options with the business owners and facilitates a loan that works best for both the entrepreneur and the lender— often within 24 hours.
With access to this capital, Lendio’s small business clients have generated an estimated $6.5 billion in economic output and created nearly 45,000 jobs in communities nationwide. And this high-tech marketplace has enabled strategic partnerships between Lendio and American Express, Heartland Payment Systems, PayPal, LendingClub, Kabbage, NerdWallet, Comcast Business, Staples, and Funding Circle.
Plus this investment enables Lendio to expand its online bookkeeping platform called Sunrise by Lendio. There are hundreds of small business owners now utilizing Sunrise to manage their cash flow and visualize their financial health. And by further integrating its Sunrise bookkeeping and loan marketplace platforms, Lendio will be able to proactively meet the capital needs of its growing number of business owners.
Lendio plans to utilize the funding for enhancements across its lender services division. And based on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) partnership model, the lender services division provides banks, credit unions, and online lenders access to a custom white-labeled online application that allows the financial institution to accept loan applications online.
A number of lenders are now outsourcing the customer-facing sales function to Lendio in order to harness the company’s knowledge of loan products and small business needs as well as its ability to increase customer conversion rates.
Key Quotes:
“This $55 million round is a significant milestone in Lendio’s mission to fuel the American dream as a financial matchmaker that brings high-tech, high-touch capital to the small business economy,” said Brock Blake, CEO and co-founder of Lendio. “With these funds, we are strongly positioned to grow our existing platform as a trusted loan facilitator that supports both lenders and borrowers, while building out a range of new integrated lending services that get the right loans into the right hands at the right time. We are grateful for the continued support and trust of our investors who believe in our growth strategy.”
“Lendio’s ability to combine data analytics with the human touch to connect small businesses quickly and precisely with ideal lending partners has made all the difference in its success,” said Ryan Sanders, senior investor at Mercato Partners Traverse Fund. “Lendio uniquely solves the problem of inefficient capital for small businesses by bridging lenders and borrowers. They are able to connect both sides and facilitate loans faster and more effectively between small business owners and lending institutions. Lendio’s impressive growth is a result of its technology-backed personalized service which has created a loyal and growing following in the industry.”
