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 >>> 13
2016 to 2019 >>> 6
2020 or later >>> 4
Small Business Lender of the Month*
Get working capital for your business quickly
Revenued offers a Flex Line + Business Card built for all businesses
HQ: New Jersey | Founded: 2015 | Website visits: 44,000/month
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 (1/24) | Company | FAB Score | Founded | HQ | Funding ($M) | Visits (July ’24) |
| 1 | 1 | Capchase | 375 | 2020 | NYC | 1060 | 38,000 |
| 2 | 2 | BlueVine | 308 | 2013 | SF | 768 | 1,000,000 |
| 3 | 3 | OnDeck | 235 | 2007 | NYC | 1200 | 360,000 |
| 4 | 4 | Clearco | 194 | 2015 | Toronto | 859 | 24,000 |
| 5 | NEW | Uncapped | 167 | 2019 | London | 361 | 53,000 |
| 6 | 5 | Nav | 142 | 2012 | Utah | 92 | 660,000 |
| 7 | 6 | CAN Capital | 127 | 1998 | Atlanta | 1002 | 5,700 |
| 8 | 9 | Arc | 117 | 2021 | SF | 181 | 100,000 |
| 9 | 7 | Lendio | 110 | 2011 | Utah | 109 | 490,000 |
| 10 | 10 | FundBox | 97 | 2013 | SF | 554 | 100,000 |
| 11 | 11 | Lighter Capital | 85 | 2010 | Seattle | 246 | 41,000 |
| 12 | 8 | Camino Financial | 84 | 2014 | LA | 170 | 36,000 |
| 13 | 12 | Biz2Credit | 83 | 2007 | NYC | 387 | 180,000 |
| 14 | 14 | Pipe | 64 | 2019 | Miami | 323 | 58,000 |
| 15 | 15t | Novel Partners | 61 | 2018 | Overland Park, KS | 115 | 2,100 |
| 16 | 14t | Lendistry | 55 | 2015 | Brea, CA | 95 | 43,000 |
| 17 | 13 | Fundera (NerdWallet) | 37 | 2013 | NYC | 19 | 180,000 |
| 18 | 17 | Credibly | 29 | 2010 | Detroit | 82 | 100,000 |
| 19 | 18 | IOU Financial | 17 | 2011 | Atlanta | 132 | 10,000 |
| 20 | 20t | BizFI | 13 | 2005 | NYC | 160 | 1,300 |
| 21 | 22 | HoneyComb Credit | 12 | 2017 | Pittsburgh | 12 | 26,000 |
| 22 | 19 | Upright (was Fund that Flip) | 11 | 2014 | NYC | 53 | 20,000 |
| 23 (t) | 20t | SMBX | 10 | 2016 | SF | 15 | 16,000 |
| 23 (t) | 23 | SMB Compass | 10 | 2017 | Rye, NY | 0 | 38,000 |
| 23 (t) | 24 | Patch Lending | 10 | 2013 | LA | 55 | 22,000 |
| 26 | NEW | Revenued | 9 | 2015 |
New Jersey
|
44,000 | |
| 27 | 25 | SmartBiz Loans | 5 | 2009 | SF | 37 | 27,000 |
| 28 | 26t | Salaryo | 4 | 2017 | NYC | 12 | 1,000 |
| 29 | 26t | QuickFI | 3 | 2018 |
Fairport, NY
|
2,100 | |
| 30 (t) | 28t | P2Binvestor | 2 | 2012 | Denver | 33 | 400 |
| 30 (t) | 30t | Channel Partners | 2 | 2009 | Minneapolis | 50 | 5,000 |
| 32 (t) | 28t | Lendr | 1 | 2011 | Chicago | 25 | 6,200 |
| 33 (t) | 30t | SnapCap (LendingTree) | -2 | 2012 | Charelston, SC | 0 | 3,800 |
| 33 (t) | 32t | Lendinero | -1 | 2014 | Miami | 0.03 | 900 |
| 33 (t) | 32t | Rapid Finance | -2 | 2005 | Bethesda, MD | 0 | 38,000 |
| 33 (t) | 32t | Brightcap (was Forward Line) | -5 | 2003 | SF | 20 | 20,000 |
Source: Compiled by FintechLabs, 3 Sep 2024, from Crunchbase, SimilarWeb, SEMRush data
(“Was” ranking as of 15 Jan 2024), 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 = 375 (up 56 from Jan ’24)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2020
Traction:
– Raised: $1.1B (including $110M in 2024, $480M in 2022) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 38,000 (SimilarWeb, July 2024)
– Employees: 154 (Pitchbook), up 2 since Nov ’23, up 7 since July ’23, up 11 since May ’23
– Articles: 77 (Crunchbase)
Social:
– Linkedin: 19,000 followers (156 employees, up 13 since Jan ’24, up 9 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: NA
2. Bluevine
FAB Score = 308 (up 34)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2013
Traction:
– Raised: $769M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Valuation: $1B+ (estimate)
– Website visits: 1.0 million (SimilarWeb, July 2024)
– Employees: 618 (Pitchbook), up 34 since Jan ’24, up 40 since Nov ’23, up 32 since July ’23, up 43 since May ’23
– Articles: 133 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 57,000 followers (590 employees, down 18 since Jan ’24, up 8 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.3 (8,100 reviews, up 330 since Jan)
3. OnDeck (acquired by Enova Oct 2020)
FAB Score = 235 (up 18)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2007
– Raised: $1.2B prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Acquired by Enova in Oct 2020 for $120M
– Website visits: 360,000 (July 2024, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 746 (Pitchbook), up 646 since Jan ’24
– Citations: 593 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 29,000 followers (321 employees, up 10 since Jan ’24, up 2 from Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.6 (4,270 reviews, up 140 since Jan.)
4. Clearco (formerly Clearbanc; updated 16 June 2022)
FAB Score = 194 (unchanged)
– 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: 24,000 (SimilarWeb, July 2024)
– Employees: 315 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Nov, down 185 from July
– Articles: 121 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 44,000 followers (172 employees, up 4 since Jan ’24, down 5 from Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.4 (334 reviews, up 19 since Jan)
6. Nav
FAB Score = 142 (down 2)
– HQ: Utah
– Founded: 2012
– Raised: $92M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 660,000 (SimilarWeb, July 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 (182 employees, down 39 since Jan ’24, down 33 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 3.9 (350 reviews, up 50 since Jan)
7. CAN Capital
FAB Score = 127 (unchanged)
– HQ: Atlanta
– Founded: 1998
– Raised: $1.0B prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 5,700 (SimilarWeb, July 2024)
– Employees: 395 (Pitchbook), unchanged since July ’23
– Articles: 92 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 14,000 followers (243 employees, down 3 since Jan ’24, down 8 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.9 (1,130 reviews, up 45 since Jan ’24)
8. Arc
Fab score = 117 (up 14)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2021
– Raised: $181M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 100,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 45 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Nov ’23
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 12,000 followers (322 employees, up 191 since Jan ’24, up 212 since Nov ’23)
9. Lendio
FAB Score = 110 (down 14)
– HQ: Salt Lake City, Utah
– Founded: 2011 (originally founded in 2006 as FundingUtah).
– Raised: $109M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 490,000 (July 2024, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 420 (Pitchbook), down 95 since Jan ’24, down 94 from July ’23, down 158 from May ’23
– Citations: 132 (Crunchbase)
– LinkedIn: 19,000 followers (421 employees, down 20 since Jan ’24, down 82 since Nov ’23)
10. Fundbox
FAB Score = 97 (down 4)
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2013
– Raised: $554M including $100M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 100,000 (July 2024, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 250 (Pitchbook), up 49 since Jan ’24, up 49 since Nov ’23, down 25 from July ’23
– Articles: 117 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 20,000 followers (169 employees, down 2 since Jan ’24, down 15 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.5 (3,840 reviews, up 120 since Jan ’24)
11. Lighter Capital
FAB Score = 85 (up 2)
– HQ: Seattle
– Founded: 2010
– Raised: $246M including $130M in Aug 2023 & $100M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 41,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 46 (Pitchbook), unchanged since July ’23
– Articles: 116 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 19,000 followers (40 employees, down 4 since Jan. ’24, down 5 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: NA
12. Camino Financial
FAB Score = 84 (down 25)
– HQ: LA
– Founded: 2014
– Raised: $170M including $150M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 36,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 103 (Pitchbook), down 15 since Jan ’24, down 21 since Nov ’23, down 31 since July ’23
– Articles: 27 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 14,000 followers (79 employees, down 36 since Jan ’24, down 42 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.1 (124 reviews, down 5 since Jan ’24)
13. Biz2Credit
FAB Score = 83 (up 6)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2007
– Raised: $387M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 180,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 750 (Pitchbook), unchanged since since July ’23
– Citations: 165 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 71,000 followers (625 employees, down 60 since Jan ’24, down 35 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.6 (15,100 reviews, up 200 since Jan. ’24)
14. Pipe
FAB Score = 64 (unchanged)
– HQ: Miami
– Founded: 2019
– Raised: $323M (including $300M in 2021, $7M in 2022) (Crunchbase)
– Valuation: $2B (based on March 2022 round)
– Website visits: 58,000 (SimilarWeb, July 2024)
– Employees: 198 (Pitchbook), unchanged since July ’23
– Articles: 90 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 23,000 followers (341 employees, up 37 since Jan ’24, up 46 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: NA
15. Novel Partners
FAB Score = 61 (down 2)
– Founded: 2018
– HQ: Overland Park, KS
– Raised: $115M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website traffic: 2,100 (SimilarWeb, Jan 2024)
– Employees: 72 (Linkedin)
– Article citations: 11 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 4,000 followers (72 employees, up 35 since Jan ’24, up 38 since Nov ’23)
16. Lendistry
FAB Score = 55 (down 8)
– HQ: Brea, CA
– Founded: 2015
– Raised: $94.8M including $90M in 2022 & $3.3M in 2023 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 43,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 337 (Linkedin), down 15 since Nov
– Articles: 32 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 14,000 followers (309 employees, down 28 since Jan ’24, down 43 since Nov ’23)
– BBB: 4.7 (1,290 reviews, unchanged)
17. Fundera (acquired by NerdWallet in Nov 2020)
FAB Score = 37 (down 28)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2013
– Raised: $18.9M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 180,000 (July 2024, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 57 (Pitchbook), down 30 since Jan ’24, down 30 since Nov. ’23
– Articles: 66 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 7,000 followers (58 employees, up 1 since Jan ’24, up 2 from Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.5 (967 reviews, up 38 since Jan ’24)
18. Credibly
FAB Score = 29 (up 1)
– HQ: Detroit
– Founded: 2010
– Raised: $82M including $5M in Aug 2023 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 100,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 171 (Pitchbook), up 4 since Jan ’24, up 8 since Nov. ’23
– Articles: 16 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 14,000 followers (174 employees, up 8 since Jan ’24, up 3 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.8 (1,910 reviews, up 240 since Jan ’24)
19. IOU Financial
FAB Score = 17 (down 6)
– 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: 10,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 105 (Pitchbook), up 2 since Jan ’24, up 20 since July ’23
– Articles: 17 (Crunchbase)
– LinkedIn: 4,000 followers (106 employees, up 3 since Jan ’24, up 3 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.8 (792 reviews, up 26 since Nov)
20. BizFI (acquired by World Business Lenders 2017)
FAB Score = 13 (unchanged)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2005
– Raised: $160M prior to 2017 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 1,300 (July 2024; SEMRush)
– Employees: 31 (Linkedin)
– Citations: 207 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 1,200 followers (28 employees, down 2 since Jan ’24, down 3 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 1.1 (440 reviews, unchanged)
21. Honeycomb Credit
FAB Score = 12 (unchanged)
– HQ: Pittsburgh
– Founded: 2017
– Raised: $11.8M including $1.9M in 2021 & $8.8M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 26,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 45 (Pitchbook), up 12 since Jan ’24, up 11 since July ’23
– Articles: 33 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 4,000 followers (45 employees, up 8 since Jan ’24, up 10 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.7 (85reviews, up 6 since Nov)
22. Upright (was Fund that Flip)
FAB Score = 11 (down 4)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2014
– Raised: $53M including $20M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 20,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 101 (Pitchbook), down 106 since Jan ’24, down 105 since July ’23
– Articles: 19 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 5,000 followers (104 employees, down 46 since Jan ’24, down 100 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: NA (2 reviews)
23 (tie). SMBX
FAB Score = 10 (down 3)
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2016
– Raised: $15.2M including $11.5M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors: 16,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 35 (Linkedin)
– Articles: 16 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 3,100 followers (31 employees, down 4 since Jan ’24, down 4 since Nov. ’23)
– Trustpilot: NA
23 (tie). Patch Lending (formerly Patch of Land; acquired by Cloverhill July 2021)
FAB Score = 10 (up 4)
– HQ: LA
– Founded: 2013
– Raised: $54.9M prior to 2018 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 22,000 (July 2023, SEMRush)
– Employees: 46 (Pitchbook), unchanged
– Articles: 36 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 4,200 followers (18 employees, down 3 since Jan ’24, down 4 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.1 (29 reviews, unchanged since Nov ’23)
26. Revenued
Fab Score = 9 (up 1)
– HQ: New Jersey
– Founded: 2015
– Raised: Unkown (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 44,000 (July 2024, Similarweb)
– Employees:
– Articles: 7 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 2,000 followers (27 employees, down 2 since Jan. 24)
– TrustPilot: 4.7 (775 reviews, up 54 since Jan ’24)
27. SmartBiz Loans (formerly BillFloat)
FAB Score = 5 (unchanged)
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2009 (originally as BillFloat)
– Raised: $37M prior to 2014 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 27,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 226 (Pitchbook), unchanged since March
– Articles: 15 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 7,000 followers (208 employees, down 43 since Jan ’24, down 43 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.6 (16,400 reviews, unchanged)
28. 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: 1,000 (July 2024; Similarweb)
– Employees: 11 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Nov ’23
– Articles: 20 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 1,400 followers (9 employees, unchanged since Jan ’24, down 2 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: NA
33 (tie). SnapCap (division of LendingTree)
FAB Score = 0 (down 1)
– HQ: Charleston, SC
– Founded: 2012
– Raised: INA (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 3,800 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 23 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Nov. ’23, down 3 since July ’23
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 3,000 followers (25 employees, up 3 since Jan ’24, up 4 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.8 (772 reviews, up 37 since Jan ’24)
33 (tie). BriteCap (was ForwardLine)
FAB Score = 0 (unchanged)
– HQ: LA
– Founded: 2003
– Raised: $120M before 2020 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 20,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 75 (Pitchbook), up 10 sine Jan ’24, up 8 since Nov. ’23
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 4,000 followers (75 employees, up 5 since Jan ’24, up 6 since Nov ’23)
– Trustpilot: 4.6 (561 reviews, up 102 since Jan ’24)
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 ’23)
– Employees: 255 (Pitchbook, Nov ’23)
– Articles: 614 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 41,000 followers (172 employees, Nov ’23)
– 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
