NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Mar 26, 2015) - Orchard Platform, an investment and analytics platform that supports the global marketplace lending industry, today announced a partnership with Kabbage, a leading online provider of small business and consumer loans. This partnership now gives institutional investment managers using the Orchard Platform access to Karrot -- Kabbage's new consumer loan product. Kabbage will use Orchard's marketplace technology to grow its consumer lending business through access to a diverse pool of sophisticated investors.
Founded in 2013, Orchard has quickly established itself as the platform of choice for institutional investors and loan originators in the rapidly expanding marketplace lending space. Kabbage is the fastest growing company in small business finance and the technology leader in the space. The company has extended over seven hundred million dollars in funding to businesses since its launch in 2011. The introduction of Karrot marks the company's entrance into the consumer lending market.
"We see Orchard disrupting the institutional sales space in much the same way that Kabbage has disrupted the lending space," said Kevin Phillips, Chief Financial Officer at Kabbage. "The Orchard Platform is a highly scalable, technology driven complement to our direct sales program."
"Kabbage is a pioneer in the use of novel data and advanced analytics for issuing credit," said Matt Burton, CEO and Co-Founder of Orchard "We're thrilled to be bringing them onto the Platform and to be supporting them as they seek to expand investment in their Karrot lending business. This partnership reflects the changes taking place in the world of credit, where data and transparency are paving the way for skilled lenders to create products that fit the needs of today's borrowers while allowing these loans to be funded through a scalable and data-driven marketplace of sophisticated investors."
"Orchard has completed a seamless technical and operational integration with Kabbage," said David Snitkof, Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of Orchard. "Investors on Orchard can now analyze data, invest in Karrot loans in a data-driven way, and manage their portfolio through a unified product that provides visibility into all their marketplace investments. As two highly analytical organizations, we're incredibly excited to work together."
"We continue to see demand from a diverse group of investors for loans that are being originated at scale," said Burton. "Technology has increased the operational efficiency and access to loan level data and that enables investors to use their own scorecard, which leads to better insights and performance."
Marketplace lending is growing rapidly into what is expected to become a $3 trillion industry. Orchard provides the technology infrastructure to connect emerging and traditional lenders with a broad range of institutional investors to more efficiently fund and distribute loans. Consumer loans have been the leading asset class within marketplace lending, with small business, student loans, and equipment lending quickly following pace. As the market continues to expand, Orchard aims to provide the technology, insights and access needed to fuel its growth.
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About Orchard Platform
Orchard Platform is an investment and analytics platform that is leading the future of the credit industry. Orchard supports marketplace lending by providing technical and operational efficiencies to help institutional investors and loan originators connect and transact. Founded in New York City in 2013, Orchard focuses on building the systems and infrastructure that will allow marketplace lending to grow into a global financial market. Orchard enables institutional investors to scale their investment in the space by providing investment strategy, real-time execution and reporting, premier analytics, and access to supply. Orchard helps originators expand the credit landscape by connecting them to a diverse set of capital providers, and enables them to focus on making loans and giving borrowers more choices.
Orchard Platform Advisors, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Adviser, and is also recognized as a clear thought leader in the space and publishes a blog on its website exploring analytical and technical topics related to lending, and runs the monthly Marketplace Lending Meetup.
About Kabbage Inc.
Kabbage Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., has pioneered the first financial services data and technology platform to provide fully automated funding to small business in minutes. Kabbage leverages data generated through business activity such as accounting data, online sales, shipping and dozens of other sources to understand performance and deliver fast, flexible funding in real time. Through its Karrot brand, Kabbage offers simple consumer loans through its automated platform. Kabbage is venture-funded and backed by SoftBank Capital, Thomvest Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, BlueRun Ventures, the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, TCW/Craton and additional investors, including Ron Conway's SV Angel, David Bonderman, founder of TPG Capital, and Warren Stephens, CEO of Stephens Inc. All Kabbage and Karrot US-based loans are made by Celtic Bank, a Utah-Chartered Industrial Bank, member FDIC. For more information, please visit http://www.kabbage.com and follow the company on Facebook and Twitter.
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PR Contact:
Nadia Gonzalez
marketing (at) orchardplatform (dot) com