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 2008 >>> 6
2008 to 2011 >>> 7
2012 to 2015 >>> 12
2016 to 2019 >>> 6
2020 or later >>> 4


 

Small Business Lender of the Month*

Solve Cash Flow Problems Fast With a Working Capital Loan

Working capital loans from Credibly have helped thousands of small businesses stay afloat through periods of reduced activity.

Why Credibly?

Financing up to $400,000 | Get funds in as little as 24 hours | Factor rates as low as 1.11

What you’ll need to qualify:

6+ months time in business | 500+ credit score | $15K minimum monthly bank deposits | 3 most recent months’ business bank statements

Get Started

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 Small-Business Lenders Ranked by FAB* Score

Rank Was Company FAB Score Founded HQ Funding ($M) Visits
(Jan ’24)
1 1 Capchase 319 2020 NYC 955 24,000
2 3 BlueVine 274 2013 SF 768 830,000
3 4 OnDeck 217 2007 NYC 1200 270,000
4 2 Clearco 194 2015 Toronto 859 25,000
5 5 Nav 144 2012 Utah 92 670,000
6 8 CAN Capital 127 1998 Atlanta 1002 5,800
7 11 Lendio 124 2011 Utah 109 560,000
8 9 Camino Financial 109 2014 LA 170 160,000
9 12 Arc 103 2021 SF 181 32,000
10 7 FundBox 101 2013 SF 554 120,000
11 10 Lighter Capital 83 2010 Seattle 246 30,000
12 13 Biz2Credit 77 2007 NYC 387 150,000
13 16 Fundera (NerdWallet) 65 2013 NYC 19 320,000
14 6 Pipe 64 2019 Miami 323 56,000
15t 14 Novel Partners 63 2018 Overland Park, KS 115 14,000
15t 15 Lendistry 63 2015 Brea, CA 94.8 83,000
17 17 Credibly 28 2010 Detroit 82 97,000
18 19 IOU Financial 23 2011 Atlanta 132 40,000
19 18 Upright (was Fund that Flip) 15 2014 NYC 53 42,000
20t 21 BizFI 13 2005 NYC 160 0
20t 22 SMBX 13 2016 SF 15 30,000
22 23 HoneyComb Credit 12 2017 Pittsburgh 11.9 27,000
23 29 SMB Compass 10 2017 Rye, NY 0 38,000
24 24 Patch Lending 6 2013 LA 55 0
25 20 SmartBiz Loans 5 2009 SF 37 30,000
26t 28 QuickFI 4 2018
Fairport, NY
  3,500
26t 30 Salaryo 4 2017 NYC 12 0
28t 31 P2Binvestor 2 2012 Denver 33 0
28t 33 Lendr 2 2011 Chicago 25 11,000
30t 27 SnapCap (LendingTree) 1 2012 Charelston, SC 0 21,000
30t 32 Channel Partners 1 2009 Minneapolis 50 0
32t 34 Lendinero 0 2014 Miami 0.03 0
32t 35 Rapid Finance 0 2005 Bethesda, MD 0 28,000
32t 36 Brightcap (was Forward Line) 0 2003 SF 20 20,000

Source: Compiled by FintechLabs, 27 Jan 2024, from Crunchbase, SimilarWeb, SEMRush data

(“Was” ranking as of 27 Nov 2023), funding includes debt & equity

*(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.



Top 30 Alt-Lenders (Digital) Lending to Small-to-Medium Businesses (SMB) in the United States

Rank (by FAB score)

1. Capchase

FAB Score = 319 (down 171 from Nov 2023)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2020
Traction:
– Raised: $955M (including $5M in 2024, $480M in 2022) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 24,000 (SimilarWeb, Jan 2024)
– Employees: 152 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Nov, up 5 since July, up 9 since May 2023
– Articles: 58 (Crunchbase)
Social:
Linkedin: 16,000 followers (143 employees, down 4 since Nov)
– Trustpilot: NA



2. Bluevine
FAB Score = 274 (up 16)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2013
Traction:
– Raised: $769M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
Valuation: $1B+ (estimate)
– Website visits: 830,000 (SimilarWeb, Jan 2024)
– Employees: 584 (Pitchbook), up 6 since Nov, down 2 since July, up 9 since May 2023
– Articles: 127 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 54,000 followers (608 employees, up 26 since Nov)
Trustpilot:  4.3 (7,770 reviews, up 200 since Nov)


3. OnDeck (acquired by Enova Oct 2020)
FAB Score = 217 (up 6)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2007
– Raised: $1.2B prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
Acquired by Enova in Oct 2020 for $120M
– Website visits: 270,000 (Jan 2024, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 100 (Pitchbook), unchanged since July
– Citations: 593 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 28,000 followers (311 employees, down 8 from Nov)
Trustpilot: 4.6 (4,130 reviews, up 100)


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

FAB Score = 194 (down 196)
– HQ: Toronto
– Founded: 2015
– Raised: $859M (including $169M in Oct 2023, $17M in 2022) (Crunchbase)
Valuation: $2.0 billion (based on April 2021 round)
– Website visits: 25,000 (SimilarWeb, Jan 2024)
– Employees: 315 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Nov, down 185 from July
– Articles: 120 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 43,000 followers (168 employees, down 9 from Nov)
Trustpilot: 3.7 (315 reviews, up 5 since Nov)


5. Nav
FAB Score = 144 (down 66)
– HQ: Utah
– Founded: 2012
– Raised: $92M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 670,000 (SimilarWeb, Jan 2024)
– Employees: 224 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Nov, up 25 since July
– Articles: NA (too many Net Asset Value citations mixed in)
Linkedin: 6,000 followers (221 employees, up 6 since Nov)
Trustpilot: 4.2 (300 reviews, up 30 since Nov)


6. CAN Capital
FAB Score = 127 (down 1)
– HQ: Atlanta
– Founded: 1998
– Raised: $1.0B prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 5,800 (SimilarWeb, Jan 2024)
– Employees: 395 (Pitchbook), unchanged since July
– Articles: 92 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 13,000 followers (246 employees, down 5 since Nov)
Trustpilot: 4.9 (1,085 reviews, up 35)

 


 

7. Lendio
FAB Score = 124 (up 16)
– HQ: Salt Lake City, Utah
– Founded: 2011 (originally founded in 2006 as FundingUtah).
– Raised: $109M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 560,000 (Jan 2024, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 515 (Pitchbook), up 1 from July, down 63 from May
– Citations: 132 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 18,000 followers (441 employees, down 62 since Nov)


8. Camino Financial
FAB Score = 109 (down 18)
– HQ: LA
– Founded: 2014
– Raised: $170M including $150M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 160,000 (Jan 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 118 (Pitchbook), down 6 since Nov, down 16 since July
– Articles: 27 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 14,000 followers (115 employees, down 6 since Nov)
Trustpilot: 4.1 (129 reviews, unchanged since Nov)

9. Arc
Fab score = 103 (up 4)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2021
– Raised: $181M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 32,000 (Jan 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 45 (Pitchbook), unchanged
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 10,000 followers (131 employees, up 21 since Nov)

10. Fundbox 
FAB Score = 101 (down 30)
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2013
– Raised: $554M including $100M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 120,000 (Jan 2024, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 201 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Nov, down 74 from July
– Articles: 117 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 19,000 followers (171 employees, down 13 since Nov)
Trustpilot: 4.3 (3,720 reviews, up 10 since Nov)


11. Lighter Capital
FAB Score = 83 (down 37)
– HQ: Seattle
– Founded: 2010
– Raised: $246M including  $130M in Aug 2023 & $100M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 30,000 (Jan 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 46 (Pitchbook), unchanged since July
– Articles:  116 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 17,000 followers (44 employees, down 1 since Nov)
– Trustpilot:  NA

12. Biz2Credit 
FAB Score = 77 (unchanged)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2007
– Raised: $387M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 150,000 (Jan 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 550 (Pitchbook), down 200 since July
– Citations: 165 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 62,000 followers (685 employees, up 25 since Nov)
Trustpilot:  4.6 (14,900 reviews, up 100 since Nov)



13. Fundera (acquired by NerdWallet in Nov 2020) 
FAB Score = 65 (up 14)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2013
– Raised: $18.9M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 320,000 (Jan 2024, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 87 (Pitchbook), unchanged
– Articles: 66 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 7,000 followers (57 employees, up 1 from Nov)
Trustpilot:  4.3 (929 reviews, up 10 since Nov)

14. Pipe
FAB Score = 64 (down 104)
– HQ: Miami
– Founded: 2019
– Raised: $323M (including $300M in 2021, $7M in 2022) (Crunchbase)
Valuation: $2B (based on March 2022 round)
– Website visits: 56,000 (SimilarWeb, Jan 2024)
– Employees: 198 (Pitchbook), unchanged since July
– Articles: 90 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 22,000 followers (304 employees, up 9 since Nov)
– Trustpilot:  NA


15 (tie). Novel Partners
FAB Score = 63 (up 1)
– Founded: 2018
– HQ: Overland Park, KS
– Raised: $115M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website traffic: 14,000 (SimilarWeb, Jan 2024)
– Employees: 34 (Linkedin), up 6 since July
– Article citations: 11 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 3,000 followers (37 employees, up 3 since Nov)


15 (tie). Lendistry
FAB Score = 63 (up 12)
– HQ: Brea, CA
– Founded: 2015
– Raised: $94.8M including $90M in 2022 & $3.3M in 2023 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 83,000 (Jan 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 337 (Linkedin), down 15 since Nov
– Articles: 32 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 13,000 followers (337 employees, down 15 since Nov)
BBB: 4.7 (1,290 reviews, unchanged)

 


17. Credibly
FAB Score = 28 (unchanged)
– HQ: Detroit
– Founded: 2010
– Raised: $82M including $5M in Aug 2023 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 69,000 (Jan 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 167 (Pitchbook), up 4
– Articles: 16 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 10,000 followers (166 employees, down 5 since Nov)
Trustpilot: 4.8 (1,670 reviews, up 100 since Nov)


18. IOU Financial
FAB Score = 23 (up 7)
– HQ: Atlanta
– Founded: 2011
– Raised: $132M (including $200k in 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Market cap: $22M (19 July 2023), up $9M since 16 May 2023 (taken private in Sep 2023)
– $1.5B originated since inception (per company, Feb 2024)
– Website visits: 40,000 (Jan 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 103 (Pitchbook), up 18 since July
– Articles: 17 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 3,400 followers (103 employees, unchanged since NOv)
Trustpilot: 4.8 (792 reviews, up 26 since Nov)

19. Upright (was Fund that Flip)
FAB Score = 15 (down 8)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2014
– Raised: $53M including $20M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 42,000 (Jan 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 207 (Pitchbook), up 1 since July, up 7 since May
– Articles: 19 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 5,000 followers (150 employees, down 54 since Nov)
Trustpilot: NA (2 reviews)


20 (tie). BizFI (acquired by World Business Lenders 2017)
FAB Score = 13 (unchanged)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2005
– Raised: $160M prior to 2017 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 100 (Jan 2024; SEMRush)
– Employees: 31 (Linkedin)
– Citations:  207 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 1,200 followers (30 employees, down 1 since Nov)
Trustpilot: 4.6 (440 reviews, unchanged)


20 (tie). SMBX
FAB Score = 13 (up 1)
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2016
– Raised: $15.2M including $11.5M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 30,000 (Jan 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 35 (Linkedin)
– Articles: 16 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 3,100 followers (35 employees, unchanged)
– Trustpilot: NA


22. Honeycomb Credit
FAB Score = 12 (unchanged)
– HQ: Pittsburgh
– Founded: 2017
– Raised: $10.4M including $1.9M in 2021 & $8.8M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 27,000 (Jan 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 33 (Pitchbook), down 1 since July
– Articles: 33 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 3,000 followers (37 employees, up 2 since Nov)
Trustpilot: 4.7 (85reviews, up 6 since Nov)


24. Patch Lending (formerly Patch of Land; acquired by Cloverhill July 2021)
FAB Score = 6 (unchanged)
– HQ: LA
– Founded: 2013
– Raised: $54.9M prior to 2018 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: INA (404 page, Nov 2023, SEMRush)
– Employees: 46 (Pitchbook), unchanged
– Articles: 36 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 4,200 followers (21 employees, down 1 since Nov)
Trustpilot: 4.1 (29 reviews, unchanged)


25. SmartBiz Loans (formerly BillFloat)
FAB Score = 5 (down 9)
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2009 (originally as BillFloat)
– Raised: $37M prior to 2014 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 30,000 (Jan 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 226 (Pitchbook), unchanged since March
– Articles: 15 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 7,000 followers (251 employees, unchanged since Nov)
Trustpilot:  4.6 (16,400 reviews, unchanged)26 (tie).

 


26 (tie). Salaryo (acquired by Meitav Investment House in 2022)
FAB Score = 4 (unchanged)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2017
– Raised: $12.1M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: INA (Jan 2024; SEMRush)
– Employees: 11 (Pitchbook), unchanged
– Articles: 20 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 1,400 followers (9 employees, down 2 since Nov)
– Trustpilot: NA


30 (tie). SnapCap (division of LendingTree)
FAB Score = 1 (down 4)
– HQ: Charleston, SC
– Founded: 2012
– Raised: INA (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 21,000 (Jan 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 23 (Pitchbook), down 3 since July
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 3,000 followers (22 employees, up 1 since Nov)
Trustpilot: 4.7 (735 reviews, up 20 since Nov)


 


32 (tie). BrightCap (was ForwardLine)
FAB Score = 0 (unchanged) 
– HQ: LA
– Founded: 2003
– Raised: $120M before 2020 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 20,000 (Jan 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 65 (Pitchbook), down 2
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 3,300 followers (70 employees, up 1 since Nov)
Trustpilot: 4.6 (459 reviews, up 91 since Nov)


Defunct

Kabbage (acquired by American Express)
No longer operated as a separate brand (June 2023)
– HQ: Atlanta
– Founded: 2008
– Raised: $2.5B (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 3,000 (SimilarWeb, May 2023)
– Employees: 255 (Pitchbook), unchanged
– Articles: 614 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 41,000 followers (172 employees, down 4 since May)
Trustpilot: 2.8 (6,780 reviews through Jan 2023, new info no longer available)

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

 P2Binvestor (acquired by Aion, no website update since 2020, removed from list Nov 2023)
FAB Score = 2 (unchanged)
– HQ: Denver
– Founded: 2012
– Raised: $33.3M prior to 2019 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: INA (Oct 2023; SEMRush)
– Employees: 11 (Pitchbook), unchanged
– Articles: 25 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 910 followers (2 employees, unchanged)
– Trustpilot: NA

Nuula (acquired by NAV Jan 2023), removed from list Nov 2023)
FAB Score = 66 (unchanged)
– HQ: Toronto
– Founded: 2020
– Raised: $120M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: INA (redirects to NAV)
– Employees: 100 (Pitchbook), up 76 since July
– Articles: 23 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 4,900 followers (8 employees, down 3)
– Trustpilot:  NA