Fintech startup Lendio closes $55M Series E funding to help find perfect loans for small business owners

Lendio, a Lehi, Utah-based fintech startup and the nation’s largest marketplace for small business loans, today announced it has secured $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 funding came from existing investors including Napier Park Financial Partners, Comcast Ventures, Blumberg Capital, Stereo Capital and Runa Capital. Lendio said it will use the funding to increase the scope and precision of its loan marketplace while expanding new bookkeeping and lender services functions.

Founded in 2011 by Brock Blake, Levi King, and Trent Miskin, Lendio’s marketplace is the center of small business lending. Bringing all options together in one place, from short-term specialty financing to long-term, low-interest traditional loans, our technology makes small business lending simple and decreases the amount of time and effort it takes to secure funding.  With a network of over 75 lenders offering multiple loan products and over 100,000 small business loans funded, Lendio’s marketplace is the largest in the country and the center of small business lending.

“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.”

Over the past two years, Lendio’s year-over-year growth rate has averaged 75%. The company has grown to be the largest small business financing marketplace in the United States—facilitating more than 100,000 loans totaling $2 billion—through a combination of leading technology, data science and personalized expert guidance. To apply, small business owners complete a 15-minute online loan application that is processed by Lendio’s machine learning algorithms and matched with a pool of suitable lenders. 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.

“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.”

Fueled by this access to 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. Meanwhile, this high-tech marketplace has enabled strategic partnerships between Lendio and market leaders including American Express, Heartland Payment Systems, PayPal, LendingClub, Kabbage, NerdWallet, Comcast Business, Staples and Funding Circle.

The investment enables Lendio to expand its online bookkeeping platform, Sunrise by Lendio. Hundreds of small business owners now leverage Sunrise to manage their cash flow and visualize their financial health. By further integrating its Sunrise bookkeeping and loan marketplace platforms, Lendio will be able to proactively meet the capital needs of this growing number of business owners.

Additionally, Lendio will tap the funding for enhancements across its lender services division. 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. In addition, lenders are now outsourcing the customer-facing sales function to Lendio, harnessing Lendio’s knowledge of loan products and small business needs, as well as its ability to increase customer conversion rates.