New York, Aug. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PeerIQ, a leading provider of data and analytics for the lending sector, today announced that it has closed a $12 million Series A funding round, co-led by TransUnion, Hearst’s Financial Venture Fund and Macquarie Group, along with existing investors Uprising and former Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack. With the new capital, PeerIQ will expand its core platform to unlock more value for its clients, extend beyond online into traditional lending markets, and collaborate on new product initiatives with its strategic partners.
“Since launching our platform in 2015, we’ve seen tremendous growth, expanding our customer base from asset managers to now investment banks, lenders, and ABS investors,” said Ram Ahluwalia, Founder and CEO of PeerIQ. “This investment, along with the strategic support that comes with it, will further extend our platform into those new segments, led by new data offerings, credit facility management, and ABS toolkits.”
Already a core data partner to PeerIQ, TransUnion is deepening its relationship, with Steve Chaouki, executive vice president and head of TransUnion’s financial services business unit, joining the PeerIQ board. Shea Wallon, managing director of Hearst’s Financial Venture Fund, which invests in early-stage financial information, service and technology companies, is joining the board as well.
“We combined TransUnion’s deep datasets with PeerIQ’s risk analytics platform to offer institutional investors and lenders powerful tools to optimize their loan portfolios for the capital markets and make better investment decisions,” said Chaouki. “This investment accelerates PeerIQ’s efforts, beginning with the launch of new, investor-focused products this fall, including credit performance trends, modeling data archives, benchmarking analysis, and regulatory compliance tools.”
“We see tremendous opportunity for PeerIQ’s loan-level analytics to increase transparency and liquidity in the securitized products markets,” said Richard P. Malloch, President of Hearst Business Media. “Pairing the PeerIQ platform with Hearst’s risk expertise will provide powerful tools across the capital markets.”
Michael McLaughlin, Head of Credit Markets at Macquarie Group, a global investment bank, added: “As a major provider of capital to the fintech industry—and existing PeerIQ customer—we see the value of PeerIQ’s real-time credit monitoring and reporting tools both for Macquarie and for our most data-driven clients.”
PeerIQ was founded to bridge the gap between the lenders and the capital markets—a $14 trillion market in the US alone. Aggregating and validating data from numerous sources, PeerIQ combines the data with cash flow analytics, portfolio management tools, reporting services, and independent views on risk so clients can optimize their portfolios and transact with confidence. “Our ambition is to make lending markets more transparent, liquid and data-driven,” said Ahluwalia. “The strategic partnerships announced today go a long way towards realizing our mission.”
About PeerIQ
PeerIQ is a data and analytics company that bridges the gap between lenders and the capital markets, offering transparency, data validation, and loan-level credit analytics so parties can transact with confidence. Our platform simplifies workflows across the consumer credit funding cycle—from whole loans to credit facilities to ABS—enabling the safe and secure movement of capital into the lending markets. More information is available at www.peeriq.com.
About TransUnion
Information is a powerful thing. At TransUnion, we realize that. We are dedicated to finding innovative ways information can be used to help individuals make better and smarter decisions. We help uncover unique stories, trends and insights behind each data point, using historical information as well as alternative data sources. This allows a variety of markets and businesses to better manage risk and consumers to better manage their credit, personal information and identity. Today, TransUnion has a global presence in more than 30 countries and a leading presence in several international markets across North America, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Through the power of information, TransUnion is working to build stronger economies and families and safer communities worldwide.
About Hearst
Hearst is one of the nation's largest diversified media, information and services companies with more than 360 businesses. Its major interests include ownership in cable television networks such as A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime and ESPN; majority ownership of global ratings agency Fitch Group; Hearst Health, a group of medical information and services businesses; 30 television stations such as WCVB-TV in Boston and KCRA-TV in Sacramento, Calif., which reach a combined 19 percent of U.S. viewers; newspapers such as the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle and Albany Times Union, nearly 300 magazines around the world including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper's BAZAAR and Car and Driver; digital services businesses such as iCrossing and KUBRA; and investments in emerging digital and video companies such as BuzzFeed, Vice, Complex Networks and AwesomenessTV. Follow us on Twitter, @HearstLive and @Hearst, and subscribe to Hearstlink.
About Macquarie Group
Macquarie Group is a global provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services. Founded in 1969, Macquarie employs more than 13,597 people in over 27 countries. At 31 March 2017, Macquarie had assets under management of $367 billion. For more information, visit www.macquarie.com.