Small business, marketplace lender, Kabbage, has announced two new executive hires; the executive hires will focus on technology and data as the company seeks to expand and gain greater market share in online small business lending; Amala Duggirala will join Kabbage as the chief technology officer and Rama Rao will be the chief data officer. Source
Kabbage has announced the pricing of its first securitization of the year; the portfolio was valued at $525 million and includes small business loans; it is structured in four classes and has received ratings from Kroll Bond Rating Agency with the majority of the portfolio rated A; the deal is expected to close around March 20. Source
Experienced credit market executive Kathryn Petralia talks with Crowdfund Insider about fintech and the business growth of Kabbage; the firm has originated approximately $3 billion in loans to 100,000 US small businesses since 2011; it has developed lending partnerships with global banks Santander and Scotiabank; it has also been active in promoting small business lending through its development of the SMART Box in collaboration with the Innovative Lending Platform Association; other highlights from the interview include insight on fintech predictions and regulations, Kabbage's involvement with the Consumer Financial Data Rights group, initiatives within the Innovative Lending Platform Association and Petralia's career advice. Source
Knock has raised $32 million in a Series A funding round; the firm plans to launch an online real estate platform that will provide for greater real estate market liquidity; the firm will compete with OpenDoor and OfferPad also offering similar services; it's currently testing its platform investments in Atlanta, Georgia. Source
Lantern Credit has acquired the Abstract Regression Classification (ARC) Machine Learning Library to enhance its proprietary machine learning solution, Beam AI; the firm expects the acquisition and machine learning enhancements to improve its credit advice, credit offers and support for financial institutions; according to Chad Swensen, CEO of Lantern Credit, "Leveraging the ARC software to advance the Beam AI technology produces the most advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning application in the consumer credit management space." Source
Short term small business lender Kabbage raised a $250 million Series F round from Japan's SoftBank, bringing their total equity funding to $500 million; according to TechCrunch, Kabbage CEO Rob Frohwein says the funding will be used to expand their US footprint, launch more analytical tools, expand into the Asian market and add new products; when talking with TechCrunch before the round was public, Rob explained the thought process behind going into new products like payments; Frohwein says: "Look at how PayPal and Square have both gone from being payments companies to small business lenders. There is a clear connection between how companies think about those two business areas, so it's not a giant leap of faith for us to consider this." Source
Kabbage has reported it will open a new office in Ireland; the geographic expansion follows a 50 million euro ($54 million) investment from the Irish Strategic Investment Fund which is managed by the country's National Treasury Management Agency; the Kabbage lending platform is focused on lending to small businesses and the firm expects to help support the Irish small business sector while also creating many high-quality financial services jobs in Ireland. Source
Invesco's digital wealth platform for financial advisors, Jemstep, is partnering with the retail broker dealer and investment arm of American financial services company KeyBank; this is the second big piece of news for Jemstep, they recently signed a deal with a network of US financial advisors called Advisor Network; Jemstep is a white label platform for financial advisors to offer their clients; Simon Roy, president and CEO of Jemstep, told AltFi’s Robo Advice News, "Jemstep is proud to partner with Key Investment Services (KIS) to deliver both a quality digital solution to help clients meet their financial goals and an efficient service that integrates within KIS's existing middle and back-office processes." Source
Kroll Bond Rating Agency has assigned ratings for Avant's most recent securitization deal; the portfolio includes three tranches of consumer notes valued at $192.6 million; ratings for each of the three tranches are included in the chart above and range from A- to BB. Source
Lantern Credit has appointed John Mack as its new chairman of its board of advisors; the company works to provide credit solutions for inefficiencies through its technology platform; Mack brings experience from roles as chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, co-CEO of Credit Suisse Group, CEO of Credit Suisse First Boston and various other roles on corporate boards including Lending Club. Source