SME lender Kabbage collects $250m investment from Softbank
Softbank invests in Kabbage
Online small business lender Kabbage has raised $250 million in funding from Japan’s Softbank Group, writes Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company).
The capital, which takes Kabbage’s total funding to more than $488 million, will be used to support new lending products for small businesses. It will also help “explore non-lending products and services” for its customers, the company says.
The partnership with Softbank will also likely help as Kabbage looks to expand beyond North America and Europe to markets in Asia.
Kabbage co-founder and CEO Rob Frohwein praises Softbank’s “scale, global reach, relationships, and unparalleled expertise in building transformative industry leaders”.
He emphasises Kabbage’s goal of using “real-time and persistent access to data” to give small businesses a range of financial services and said the partnership with Softbank would “accelerate” the process.
Softbank’s MD, David Thevenon, adds: “We invested in Kabbage because their unique automated lending platform leverages open data networks and best positions them to empower small businesses around the world.”
Kabbage uses data generated from a wide range of business activity to help provide small businesses with the funding they need to grow. The company offers a line of credit of up to $150,000, with six and 12-month terms, and provides funding decisions within minutes. Kabbage loans have no origination fees or prepayment penalties, and funds can be accessed online, using Kabbage’s mobile app, or with the Kabbage Card.
Kabbage was founded in 2009 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Last April, Kabbage surpassed a major milestone, topping $3 billion in funding to more than 100,000 small business customers. The company drives automated lending for three of the biggest 50 global banks by asset size: ING, Santander and Scotiabank, and maintains 1.5 million live connections to customer data.
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