OTTAWA: On Deck Capital, Inc. ONDK, -0.83% a leading platform for small business loans, announced today it has expanded its small business lending services in Canada. Since 2007, OnDeck has delivered over $2 billion to American small businesses in more than 700 industries and has been lending in Canada since 2014. As part of the expansion, OnDeck will now offer loans up to $150,000 (CAD) to Canada’s approximately 1.1 million small businesses. OnDeck chose Canada as the first country to lend to outside the United States, launching the company’s strategic initiative to meet the financing needs of small businesses in select international markets.
OnDeck, venture-backed by investors including Google Ventures and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel before going public in December 2014, has also achieved recognition among Forbes Most Promising Companies in America and the Inc. 500|5000. The company’s success and achievements stem from its proprietary technology and small business credit scoring system, the OnDeck Score ®, which evaluates small businesses based on actual operating performance, not just personal credit. The OnDeck Score evaluates more than 2,000 data points per loan application and leverages a database of more than 10 million small businesses to assess creditworthiness of businesses in the United States and Canada. Since its initial launch in Canada in 2014, OnDeck has already funded more than 150 industries – including restaurants, retailers, auto repair shops and personal care services – and has seen a very positive response from the local small business market.
“At OnDeck, we are only focused on small business lending. From very early on we have seen an enormous opportunity to help Canadian small businesses meet their growth and seasonal financing needs,” said Rob Young, Senior Vice President of International Operations, OnDeck. “OnDeck launched here to make access to capital better and easier for Canadian small businesses and we are excited to expand our offering to further meet their needs.”
In Canada, small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy. Each year 41 percent of Canadian small businesses seek capital to grow their businesses, purchase equipment and manage cash flow, yet less than half get the financing they need, according to Statistics Canada. OnDeck’s technology-enabled financing solution can deliver decisions and funding to Canadian small businesses in a matter of days, allowing a market underserved by traditional lenders to access critical growth capital quickly and efficiently.
OnDeck small business loans in Canada now range from $5,000 to $150,000 (CAD) with 6 to 24 month terms, and are currently available in all provinces and territories other than Quebec.
