Cleaning out some (paper!) files recently, I ran across an Online Banking Report article I wrote in 1997 about Bank of Montreal’s pioneering online mortgage application. It was the first time anyone had put a mortgage app online and one of the first online credit apps of any kind.** Naturally, we were excited about it, naming it the biggest innovation of the year.

Unfortunately, we didn’t track when the first business loan application went online, but it was likely a few years later, let’s call it 2000/2001. So, the capability has existed for 20+ years. But as you can see from the chart below, the digital SMB lenders began in earnest during and immediately after the 2007/2008 financial crash. Ten of the 36 largest were started in the 2007 to 2012 period.


Digital Lenders: Year Founded

Prior to 2007 >>> 4
2007 to 2011 >>> 10
2012 to 2015 >>> 13
2016 to 2018 >>> 4
2019 to 2021 >>> 5


Small Business Lender of the Month*

National Funding |  HQ: San Diego  |  Founded: 1999  |  Raised: $105M  |  Website traffic: 70,000/mo  |  Employees: 150  |  Linkedin follwers: 6,800  |  Trustpilot score: 4.8 (1,500 reviews)

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NEW: Looking for digital banks, lenders, payment providers, insurance or digital accounting for small businesses? Check out our latest lists: SMB online lenders (33) | SMB challenger banks (12) | SMB insurers (15) | SMB charge cards/expense management (16) | Billpay & invoicing (16)| Payment processors (7) | Subscription processors (7) | SMB digital accounting/bookkeeping (21)

The FAB Score Ranking (Fintech Attention Barometer) is a proxy for the size of a private fintech company.


Digital Lenders Ranked by our FAB* score (updated 27 Feb 2023)

Rank Was Company FAB Score* Founded HQ Funding (US$M) Visits (Dec 22)
Ad National Funding ***** 1999 San Diego 105 54,000
1 1 Capchase 488 2020 NYC 950 49,000
2 2 Kabbage (AmEx) 362 2008 Atlanta 2500 50,000
3 3 Clearco 309 2015 Toronto 699 35,000
4 4 BlueVine 284 2013 SF 768 880,000
5 6 Pipe 199 2019 Miami 323 195,000
6 5 OnDeck 197 2007 NYC 1200 170,000
7 7 Nav 182 2012 Utah 92 860,000
8 8 Camino Financial 177 2014 LA 170 500,000
9 9 FundBox 145 2013 SF 554 160,000
10 10 CAN Capital 128 1998 Atlanta 1002 8,400
11 11 Lendio 106 2011 Utah 109 470,000
12 12 Arc 101 2021 SF 181 21,000
13 13 Biz2Credit 89 2007 NYC 387 210,000
14 14 Fundera (NerdWallet) 87 2013 NYC 19 430,000
15 15 Nuula 67 2021 Toronto 120 7,100
16 16 Novel Partners 62 2018 Overland Park, KS 115 7,100
17 17 Lighter Capital 59 2010 Seattle 116 61,000
18 18 Lendistry 56 2015 Brea, CA 94.8 45,000
19 19 Fund that Flip 41 2014 NYC 33 150,000
20 20 SmartBiz Loans 18 2009 SF 37 94,000
21 21 IOU Financial 16 2011 Atlanta 132 5,700
22 22 SMBX 13 2016 SF 15 30,000
23 23 BizFI 13 2005 NYC 160 0
24t 24 Credibly 10 2010 Detroit 77 22,000
24t 25 HoneyComb Credit 10 2017 Pittsburgh 10.5 16,000
26 26 Forward Line 8 2003 SF 120 15,000
27t 27 Patch Lending 7 2013 LA 55 5,200
27t 27 Float Financial 7 2021 Honolulu 1.3 0
29t 30 SnapCap (LendingTree) 6 2012 Charlston, SC 0 45,000
29t 29 Salaryo 4 2017 NYC 12 1,800
31t 31 P2Binvestor 2 2012 Denver 33 0
31t 31 Channel Partners 2 2009 Minneapolis 50 5,200
33t 33 Lendr 0 2011 Chicago 25 0
33t 33 Lendinero 0 2014 Miami 0.03 0
33t 33 Rapid Finance 0 2005 Bethesda, MD 0 52,000

Source: Compiled by FintechLabs, 27 Feb 2023, from Crunchbase, SimilarWeb, SEMRush data

*(As nerds do) We have developed a proprietary score measuring the adoption of private digital financial services companies that do not release traditional metrics (# customers, loans, orginations, etc). We are calling it the FAB score, standing for Fintech Attention Barometer. It’s a work in progress, so expect changes in the formula.
**A defunct Canadian bank, Bayshore Trust, launched the first online loan application in March 1996.
***Several lenders pay Fintech Labs a referral fee for funded loans. Those fees may impact placement on our website.
****Not applicable because National Funding is not venture-backed.



Top 30 Alt-Lenders (Digital) Lending to Small-to-Medium Businesses (SMB) in the United States (as of 27 Feb 2023)

Rank (by FAB score)

1. Capchase

FAB Score = 488 (unchanged from Jan 2023)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2020
– Raised: $950M (including $945M in 2021 & 2022) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 49,000 (SimilarWeb, Dec 2022)
– Employees: 140 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 48 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 11,300 followers (141 employees)
– Trustpilot: NA


2. Kabbage (acquired by American Express)
FAB Score = 362 (unchanged from Jan 2023)
– HQ: Atlanta
– Founded: 2008
– Raised: $2.5B (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 50,000 (SimilarWeb, Dec 2022)
– Employees: 255 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 620 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 40,900 followers (198 employees)
– Trustpilot: 2.8 (6,780 reviews through Jan 2023, new info no longer available)


3. Clearco (formerly Clearbanc; updated 16 June 2022)

FAB Score = 309 (down 1)
– HQ: Toronto
– Founded: 2015
– Raised: $699M (including $550M in 2021 & $17M in 2022) (Crunchbase)
Valuation: $2.0 billion (based on April 2021 round)
– Website visits: 35,000 (SimilarWeb, Dec 2022)
– Employees: 500 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 109 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 41,500 followers (271 employees)
– Trustpilot: 3.9 (306 reviews)


4. Bluevine
FAB Score = 284 (up 48)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2013
– Raised: $769M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Valuation: $1B+ (estimate)
– Website visits: 880,000 (SimilarWeb, Dec 2022)
– Employees: 576 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 114 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 52,000 followers (581 employees)
– Trustpilot:  4.3 (7,120 reviews)


 


5. Pipe
FAB Score = 199 (up 19)
– HQ: Miami
– Founded: 2019
– Raised: $323M (including $300M in 2021, $7M in 2022) (Crunchbase)
– Valuation: $2B (based on March 2022 round)
– Website visits: 195,000 (SimilarWeb, Dec 2022)
– Employees: 198 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 79 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 18,700 followers (221 employees)
– Trustpilot:  NA


6. OnDeck (acquired by Enova Oct 2020)
FAB Score = 197 (up 4)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2007
– Raised: $1.2B prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
Acquired by Enova in Oct 2020 for $120M
– Website visits: 170,000 (Dec 2022, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 100 (Pitchbook)
– Citations: 592 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 26,600 followers (289 employees)
– Trustpilot: 4.7 (3,750 reviews)

7. Nav
FAB Score = 182 (down 4)
– HQ: Utah
– Founded: 2012
– Raised: $92M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 860,000 (SimilarWeb, Dec 2022)
– Employees: 199 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 177 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 4,540 followers (205 employees)
– Trustpilot: 4.3 (213 reviews)


8. Camino Financial
FAB Score = 177 (up 14)
– HQ: LA
– Founded: 2014
– Raised: $170M including $150M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 500,000 (Dec 2022; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 160 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 22 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 12,700 followers (135 employees)
– Trustpilot: 2.7 (84 reviews)


9. Fundbox 
FAB Score = 145 (up 8)
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2013
– Raised: $554M including $100M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 160,000 (Dec 2022, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 275 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 117 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 17,800 followers (263 employees)
– Trustpilot: 4.7 (3,620 reviews)


10. CAN Capital
FAB Score = 128 (unchanged)
– HQ: Atlanta
– Founded: 1998
– Raised: $1.0B prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 8,400 (SEMrush, Jan 2023)
– Employees: 398 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 92 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 13,300 followers (247 employees)
– Trustpilot: 4.9 (959 reviews)


11. Lendio
FAB Score = 106 (down 8)
– HQ: Salt Lake City, Utah
– Founded: 2011 (originally founded in 2006 as FundingUtah).
– Raised: $109M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 470,000 (Dec 2022, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 578 (Pitchbook)
– Citations: 127 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 17,300 followers (561 employees)

12. Arc
Fab score = 101 (up 2)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2021
– Raised: $181M (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 21,000 (Dec 2022; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 45 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 4,360 followers (41 employees)


13. Biz2Credit 
FAB Score = 89 (up 2)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2007
– Raised: $387M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 210,000 (Dec 2022; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 750 (Pitchbook)
– Citations: 153 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 33,800 followers (547 employees)
– Trustpilot:  4.6 (14,600 reviews)


14. Fundera (acquired by NerdWallet in Nov 2020) 
FAB Score = 87 (up 20)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2013
– Raised: $18.9M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 430,000 (Dec 2022, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 200 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 66 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 7,000 followers (56 employees)
– Trustpilot:  4.5 (879 reviews)


15. Nuula
FAB Score = 67 (up 1)
– HQ: Toronto
– Founded: 2020
– Raised: $120M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 7,100 (Dec 2022; Similarweb)
– Employees: 26 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 23 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 5,000 followers (15 employees)
– Trustpilot:  NA


16. Novel Partners
FAB Score = 62 (up 1)
– Founded: 2018
– HQ: Overland Park, KS
– Raised: $115M (Crunchbase)
– Website traffic: 7,100 (SimilarWeb, Dec 2022)
– Employees: 27 Linkedin
Linkedin: 2,270 followers (27 employees)


17. Lighter Capital
FAB Score = 59 (up 1)
– HQ: Seattle
– Founded: 2010
– Raised: $116M including $100M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 61,000 (Dec 2022; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 42 (Pitchbook)
– Articles:  117 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 16,300 followers (43 employees)
– Trustpilot:  NA


18. Lendistry
FAB Score = 56 (up 1)
– HQ: Brea, CA
– Founded: 2015
– Raised: $94.8M including $90M in 2022 & $3.3M in 2023 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 45,000 (Dec 2022; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 323 (Linkedin)
– Articles: 28 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 12,100 followers (323 employees)
– BBB: 4.7 (1,300 reviews)


19. Fund that Flip
FAB Score = 41 (down 8)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2014
– Raised: $53M including $20M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 150,000 (Nov 2022; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 200 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 14 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 4,600 followers (208 employees)
– Trustpilot: NA (1 review)


20. SmartBiz Loans (formerly BillFloat)
FAB Score = 18 (down 1)
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2009 (originally as BillFloat)
– Raised: $37M prior to 2014 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 94,000 (Dec 2022; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 226 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 15 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 6,500 followers (247 employees)
– Trustpilot:  4.6 (16,400 reviews)


21. IOU Financial
FAB Score = 16 (unchanged)
– HQ: Atlanta
– Founded: 2011
– Raised: $132M (including $200k in 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Public: TSXV:IOU
Market cap: $19M (27 Feb 2023)
– Website visits: 5,700 (Jan 2023; SEMRush)
– Employees: 81 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 14 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 3,200 followers (97 employees)
– Trustpilot: 4.8 (696 reviews)


22. SMBX
FAB Score = 13 (down 1)
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2016
– Raised: $15.2M including $11.5M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 30,000 (Dec 2022; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 51 (Linkedin)
– Articles: 12 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 2,900 followers (44 employees)
– Trustpilot: NA


23. BizFI (acquired by World Business Lenders 2017)
FAB Score = 13 (unchanged)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2005
– Raised: $160M prior to 2017 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: INA (Jan 2023; SEMRush)
– Employees: 30 (Linkedin)
– Citations:  207 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 1,200 followers (29 employees)
– Trustpilot: 4.6 (440 reviews)


24. Credibly
FAB Score = 10 (down 1)
– HQ: Detroit
– Founded: 2010
– Raised: $77M prior to 2020 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 22,000 (Dec 2022; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 163 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 4 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 7,200 followers (154 employees)
– Trustpilot: 4.8 (1,300 reviews)


25. Honeycomb Credit
FAB Score = 10 (unchanged)
– HQ: Pittsburgh
– Founded: 2017
– Raised: $10.5M including $1.9M in 2021 & $7.3M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 16,000 (Dec 2022; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 31 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 25 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 2,400 followers (33 employees)
– Trustpilot: 4.2 (54 reviews)


26. ForwardLine
FAB Score = 8 (unchanged) 
– HQ: LA
– Founded: 2003
– Raised: $120M prior to 2020 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 15,000 (Dec 2022; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 63 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 3,200 followers (65 employees)
– Trustpilot: 4.6 (235 reviews)


27. Patch Lending (formerly Patch of Land; acquired by Cloverhill July 2021)
FAB Score = 7 (unchanged)
– HQ: LA
– Founded: 2013
– Raised: $54.9M prior to 2018 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 5,200 (Dec 2022; (SEMRush)
– Employees: 46 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 36 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 4,200 followers (30 employees)
– Trustpilot: 4.1 (29 reviews)


29(t). Salaryo
FAB Score = 4 (unchanged)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2017
– Raised: $12.1M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 1,800 (Jan 2023; SEMRush)
– Employees: 10 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 20 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 1,300 followers (12 employees)
– Trustpilot: NA


29(t). SnapCap (division of LendingTree)
FAB Score = 6 (up 3)
– HQ: Charleston, SC
– Founded: 2012
– Raised: INA (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 45,000 (Dec 2022; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 26 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 2,900 followers (24 employees)
– Trustpilot: 4.9 (656 reviews)

31. P2Binvestor (acquired by Aion)
FAB Score = 2 (unchanged)
– HQ: Denver
– Founded: 2012
– Raised: $33.3M prior to 2019 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: INA (Dec 2022; SEMRush)
– Employees: 11 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 25 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 910 followers (1 employee)
– Trustpilot: NA


Defunct

Lendvo (taken off list Feb 2023)
FAB Score = 0 (down 1)
– HQ: Washington DC
– Founded: 2015
– Raised: $1.3M prior to 2016 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: INA (Dec 2022; SEMRush)
– Employees: 2 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 0 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 59 followers (no employees linked)
– Trustpilot: NA