After Declining Wonga Offers, On Deck Lands $42M From IVP, SAP & First Round To Bring Online Lending To Main Street

▤ Summary

Leveraging data aggregation and electronic payment technologies, the startup gives banks an alternative method for evaluating the creditworthiness of local businesses (to avoid relying on personal credit scores), in turn making it easier for mom-and-pop shops to secure a loan. As a result of the raise, IVP General Partner Sandy Miller, who has invested in companies like Ngmoco, One Kings Lane, Zynga and AddThis, will be joining On Deck’s board of directors. Online lending, in all its varied forms, has grown exponentially in the last few years, as both individuals and businesses look to find easier ways to secure capital to grow their ventures or ease the pressure of credit card debt. Of course, that doesn’t mean On Deck’s road forward will be a cake walk, as startups like Kabbage have been raising big money to provide online merchants with easy access to loans and even Amazon has been getting into the lending game. Offering the tech infrastructure to evaluate electronic performance data rather than force SMBs and banks to rely on personal credit scores and suffer through lengthy negotiations can mean value-add for both sides of the table.

$ Funding

▦ Linked Companies

SAP

$1B+