Lendio, the leading small business lending marketplace that helps business owners secure financing, today announced the company has raised a $20.5 million round of funding led by Napier Park's Financial Partners Group, along with Blumberg Capital, North Hill Ventures, Pivot Investment Partners and prior investors Tribeca Venture Partners, Runa Capital and Highway 12 Ventures. The company will use the funding to accelerate online innovation to make it easier for business owners to find financing, deepen relationships with lenders, expand the partnership program and grow its team of trusted loan advisors.

Dan Kittredge, managing director at Napier Park, and Chris Gottschalk, principal at Blumberg Capital, will be joining Lendio's board of directors as part of the deal.

'We're excited to be a part of Lendio's future to be the number one marketplace for small business loans,' says Kittredge. 'Through its growth over the past few years and its major partnerships with brands like Staples, Lendio's leadership team has proven its ability to drive innovation and deliver an incredible platform that helps both small business owners and small business lenders alike.'

Marketplace lending has become a particularly attractive sector for investors as traditional lending to small businesses continues to decline. According to Accenture, global investment in financial technology more than tripled between 2008 and 2013. Lendio's funding news follows the recent IPOs of marketplace lending platforms Lending Club and OnDeck Capital, who are lender partners on the platform.

'Lendio has become the go-to hub for small business owners to obtain the financing they need to grow and thrive. Our focus is to provide three essential benefits to the business owner -- offer a wide variety of loan options, speed up the process and reduce the time and effort it requires to get funded and provide a white-glove trusted experience,' says Brock Blake, Lendio's founder and CEO. 'Because we have served hundreds of thousands of business owners, we've been able to scale our business and improve the lending experience through an easy-to-use online matching platform, advanced machine learning and lender integrations. '

'Lendio has created a marketplace with tremendous growth potential and has proven invaluable to both the lenders and the many businesses it serves,' says Gottschalk. 'The Blumberg Capital team believes in Lendio's vision and its ability to become the premier trusted brand for small business lending.'

About Lendio

Lendio is a free online service that helps business owners find the right small business loans within minutes. The center of small business lending, our passion is fueling the American Dream by uniting the small business loan industry and bringing all options together in one place, from short-term specialty financing to long-term low-interest traditional loans. Our technology makes small business lending simple, decreasing the amount of time and effort it takes to secure funding. More information about Lendio is available at www.lendio.com.

About Napier Park's Financial Partners Group
Napier Park's Financial Partners Group is the private equity investment group of Napier Park Global Capital and is focused exclusively on making investments in the financial services industry. Financial Partners manages growth equity funds that provide companies with flexible financing solutions to support growth capital, secondary sales and recapitalizations. Financial Partners typically invests $5 million to $25 million in both majority and significant minority equity positions, and can lead larger investments. Financial Partners also manages financial services funds focused on income, including a joint venture in railcar leasing with Trinity Industries Leasing Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Trinity Industries, Inc. (NYSE: TRN).

About Blumberg Capital
Blumberg Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in exceptional entrepreneurs with transformative ideas. We partner with passionate founders to disrupt markets through innovation and build successful companies. The Blumberg Capital team has extensive experience collaborating with companies in FinTech, Enterprise Software, Digital and Social Media and Mobile and Consumer Internet. The team's relevant operational expertise and focused network enable us to be bridge-builders, connecting entrepreneurs with partners to drive success. Blumberg Capital is headquartered in San Francisco with team members and advisors in Tel Aviv and New York.