FINANCE
National Funding | March 24, 2022
National Funding, Inc., one of the largest U.S. specialty finance companies serving small- and medium-sized businesses, announced it has made a strategic growth investment in Finova Capital, a business lender focused on merchant finance and the payments industry. National Funding’s significant investment in Finova comes on the heels of market momentum for both financial services companies. Finova Capital will continue to operate as an independent business unit with its current leadership and platform.
Finova Capital’s suite of products complements and expands National Funding’s small business loan and working capital funding offerings. With its combined 50+ years of experience in financing and merchant acquiring and one million merchants served, Finova Capital primarily supports ISOs, processors, and POS equipment manufacturers. In addition, it works with partners to build leasing programs that allow merchants to conserve capital while accessing the latest technology. Finova Capital’s suite of services includes point of sale (POS) equipment financing solutions, working capital loans, term loans, and merchant cash advances.
“Our significant investment in Finova Capital supports our vision of providing whatever products it takes to help small businesses to succeed. Finova’s leaders mirror National Funding’s commitment to modern technology and trusted relationships, and we are pleased to provide access to banking and liquidity opportunities to support its growth.”
National Funding CEO Dave Gilbert
“The Finova team greatly appreciates Dave Gilbert’s vote of confidence in our business model, business philosophy, and leadership team. The National Funding investment will allow us to focus on continuous product and platform enhancements that we believe will result in significant value for our merchant clients and referral partners,” said Finova CEO Bob Neagle.
About Finova Capital
Finova Capital is a new kind of merchant finance partner. The company is backed by decades of experience and is dedicated to transparency and acquirer growth. Founded in New Jersey by best-in-industry merchant finance experts and powered by retention-focused products and acquirer-enabling technology, Finova is quickly building relationships where acquirers and merchants all win.
About National Funding, Inc.
Founded in 1999, National Funding is a leading U.S. specialty finance company serving small- and medium-sized businesses. The Company’s foundation serves American small business owners by providing funding solutions to meet their needs to reinvest in their day-to-day operations and help them grow. National Funding has provided more than $4.5 billion in working capital and equipment leasing for more than 80,000 small- to medium-sized businesses nationwide. In addition, National Funding’s digital funding process has elevated its digital capabilities by delivering a fast and simple online application.
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FINANCE
Nav Inc. | February 10, 2022
Nav Technologies, Inc. announced an extension of its partnership with Enova SMB, which comprises OnDeck and Headway Capital, two small business financing brands from Enova International. Nav Technologies, Inc is a simple and intelligent finance platform that simplifies the process of comparing financing choices for small businesses. The partnership enables Nav to be the first two-sided, open marketplace to significantly simplify capital access by allowing eligible consumers access to fast lines of credit with money accessible as soon as the following business day*.
Through its partnership with Enova SMB, Nav is the only platform that can combine customer business data with its network of lender relationships to provide instant financing, making it easier than ever for qualified small businesses to access capital.
“Until now, small businesses were left victim to the highest bidding lender on Google or led to blindly accept the one option presented by a closed system provider. By capturing the customer data lenders need in advance, Nav is uniquely positioned to provide access to the first instant financing offers in an open environment. This means small business owners can now evaluate loan options with more certainty and confidence.”
Walt Levengood, Nav VP of Sales and Business Development
Nav will continue to innovate, enabling small companies to evaluate options and confidently select the best solution for their requirements. Nav has helped over 1.4 million small companies get the best financing solutions based on real-time company data.
Jim Granat, Head of Enova SMB stated, “We are thrilled to partner with Nav to enable small businesses to easily compare loan options and, ultimately, help more small businesses achieve their goals with fast, flexible and transparent funding.”
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FINANCE
FundThrough | January 14, 2022
FundThrough, a financial technology platform that solves cash flow challenges for growing businesses through fast invoice payments, today announced that it has acquired the invoice factoring business of financial technology company BlueVine. The acquisition fast tracks the company’s strategic focus on embedded finance and its expansion efforts in the U.S. market, doubling the number of U.S. clients that will rely on FundThrough to turn unpaid invoices into working capital. All BlueVine invoice funding division employees are joining FundThrough as part of the transaction.
FundThrough has grown 1,071% over the past three years and almost 300% since last year, funding thousands of B2B clients since the company was founded in 2014. The fintech company has scaled to process more than USD$120 million dollars in funding per month while being extremely capital efficient, having only raised $25 million dollars in equity since its inception. The acquisition is expected to more than double the number of funding transactions that FundThrough makes annually.
Cash flow is the number one problem facing small businesses. According to QuickBooks data, 81% of surveyed businesses said that their customers had been late on their payments more often in 2021 compared to previous years, and 89% said late payments limit their growth. According to FundThrough client data, small businesses wait 60 days on average for customers to pay their invoices. FundThrough addresses this issue through its AI-powered funding platform, which generates automated offers for a seamless onboarding and funding experience. Through its technology, along with key partnerships with companies such as Intuit and Enverus, FundThrough cuts that waiting time by 97 percent to accelerate access to cash flow for small businesses.
“We are committed to helping small businesses grow and thrive – especially those who sell to large customers where long payment terms and a lack of financing options stand in the way of growing a business. BlueVine was one of our biggest competitors in the U.S. market, and through this acquisition we can fulfill our mission on a much larger scale. We look forward to providing BlueVine’s invoice factoring clients with the same responsive, personalized customer service and seamless funding experience that FundThrough’s existing clients rely on and appreciate.”
Steven Uster, co-founder and CEO of FundThrough
In addition to accelerating its U.S. expansion, the acquisition also rapidly progresses another core FundThrough strategy: becoming the leader in embedded finance. The additional scale from new channel partnerships and relationships acquired through BlueVine — including all BlueVine factoring partners, who have now transitioned to FundThrough — will fuel FundThrough’s goal of being included within the workflow of B2B marketplaces, ecosystems, and apps where suppliers can request instant payment of their large customer invoices without leaving the workflow. This gives suppliers more opportunities to boost their cash flow, and levels the playing field for small businesses selling to large, powerful customers who often dictate long payment terms.
Based in Redwood, California, BlueVine provides financial services to small and mid-sized businesses. The company addresses the banking and working capital needs of business owners with a suite of products including BlueVine Business Checking, Payments, and Line of Credit. Factoring was BlueVine’s founding product.
“Since launching BlueVine, we’ve been focused on the financial needs of small businesses and are very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish. As we evolve our products and services, we continuously examine how we can better serve our customers at scale,” says Eyal Lifsthiz, co-founder and CEO of BlueVine. “We determined that FundThrough is perfectly positioned to serve our factoring clients with the care and individual attention they need and deserve. Our factoring clients will be in great hands with FundThrough.”
About FundThrough
FundThrough is a leading fintech company accelerating cash flow and enabling growth for small and medium sized businesses that sell to large customers and wait to get paid. Based in Toronto and operating across North America, FundThrough’s AI-powered invoice funding platform gives B2B businesses fast, customized funding offers to get their invoices paid in a few days – rather than a few months – and get quick access to cash they’ve already earned.
About BlueVine
BlueVine provides small and medium-sized businesses with fast and simple access to financial services built with them in mind. BlueVine’s advanced online platform offers an intuitive, convenient solution designed to meet the banking and working capital needs of today’s business owners with a suite of products including BlueVine Business Checking, Payments, and Line of Credit. Based in Redwood City, California, BlueVine has provided small and medium-sized businesses with access to more than $14 billion in financing with all products combined and is backed by leading private and institutional investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, 83North, Citi Ventures, ION Crossover Partners, SVB Capital, Nationwide Insurance, and M12 (Microsoft's Venture Arm). All lines of credit and term loan products are issued by Celtic Bank, a Utah-chartered Industrial Bank, Member FDIC. Banking Services provided by Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC.
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