Utah-based Lendio (formerly

Funding Universe Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm uses ...

), founded in 2011 by

Brock Blake Brock Blake is founder and CEO of Lendio, an online marketplace for small business loans. Blake is an Inc. 500 CEO, speaker, and Forbes columnist. He was educated at Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Business, Marriott School of Manag ...

and Trent Miskin, is a free online loan marketplace in the U.S. targeting

small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...

owners.

History

Founded in 2006 as FundingUtah, , it became FundingUniverse and, by 2011, Lendio. CEO Blake has served in that role to each. In 2017, Lendio became a member of the Innovative Lending Platform Association, a trade organization that supports online lending and service companies assisting small businesses.

Lending platform

Lendio's platform reviews metrics including the business's financial projections, use of funds, industry, and monthly revenue to find loans option for borrowers. The platform uses a series of questions to predict which loan type will most likely match a business owner's qualifications. Each borrower is also assigned a funding manager to answer questions through the entire process. Lendio's online application process takes an average of 15 minutes to complete, compared with an average 25 hours filling out traditional lending applications. Small business owners are offered financing options including credit cards, lines of credit, short-term specialty loans and long-term traditional loans.

Loan types

Lendio offers a variety of loans for small business owners, including:

Company growth

Founded in 2011, Lendio facilitated its first loan in Q4 2013. In 2014, it coordinated $12.4 million in funding to more than 400 small business owners. By 2015, the company had expanded to $128 million in financing, helping more than 5,100 small business owners in all 50 states. In October 2016, Lendio raised $20 million in funding from

Comcast Ventures Comcast Ventures was a corporate venture capital firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. History In early 2011, Comcast and NBCUniversal combined their two venture arms, Comcast Interactive Capital founded in 1999 and the Peacock Fund, ...

and Stereo Capital with participation from existing investors Napier Park,

Blumberg Capital Blumberg Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that partners with entrepreneurs to innovate and build technology companies. The firm specializes in leading Seed and Series A rounds collaborating with angel investors, other venture capital ...

, Tribeca Venture Partners, and North Hill Ventures. By 2016, it had delivered over $250 million in total funding to more than 10,000 small businesses. In Q2 2018, Lendio reported 90% year-over-year revenue growth. In October 2018, Lendio announced it had serviced $1B of total loans to over 51,000 small businesses across the country, providing $3.8B in economic output. In Q1 2020, Lendio announced it had secured $55M in a Series E Funding Round. In the first month of the Paycheck Protection Program during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lendio onboarded hundreds of lenders to help facilitate what would eventually amount to $8 billion in loan approvals for over 100,000 businesses.

Awards

*Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work, U.S. Small and Medium Companies, 2021 * EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Utah Region Award winner, 2020 *Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500® *Utah Business Fast 50, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 *The Fintech 250: The Top Fintech Companies Of 2020

Lendio Local and Sunrise

Launched in early 2017, the Lendio Franchising program is the world's first franchised online lending marketplace; it has since grown to 100 franchise territories nationwide, and facilitated $430 million to over 7,000 small businesses across the U.S. In 2019, Lendio acquired Billy, renamed to Sunrise, a freemium bookkeeping software program for small businesses that allows them to manage and track cashflow, send invoices and collect payements. An integration with Gusto, allows business owners to complete and track payroll expenses as well.

Partnerships

In April 2018, Lendio announced its lender turndown program, which allows lending partners to offer Lendio's marketplace of loan options to small business owners that do not fit the lender's credit box. Lendio also works with the following organizations to better serve the small business community: *

Comcast Business Comcast Business is a subsidiary of Comcast, which, through several iterations, has handled the sales, marketing, and delivery of internet, phone, and cable television to businesses (in contrast, consumer services are primarily offered under the ...

*Ocrolus

Funding Universe

Lendio's predecessor, Funding Universe () was a pay-to-pitch on Inc.'s list of 'the fastest-growing privately held companies.' They stopped charging "amid the criticism." The name ''FundingUniverse'' was an outgrowth of the ''FundingUtah'' that Blake and Miskin began in 2006.

References

{{Reflist Financial services companies established in 2011 American companies established in 2011 Companies based in Salt Lake City