Nav, a platform that bridges the gap between small businesses and financial institutions, announced it has increased its Series B funding round from the previously announced $25 million to $38 million in equity capital. Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investments group led the round expansion with participation from CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund, Point72 Ventures, and Clocktower Technology Ventures.

Nav is a leader in small business credit and finance, with more than 200,000 small business owners using the platform to take control of their financial health and access the financing they need to grow their business. Nav will use the Series B funding to introduce more business owners to its platform and drive additional data insights for their customers.

"Our model is solving the access to capital problem in a modern way. We're using data to help business owners understand their financial health and dramatically simplify the process of borrowing money and getting credit," said Levi King, co-founder and CEO of Nav.

In the U.S., small businesses still struggle to get the financing they need despite playing a critical role in the growth of the economy. The latest Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey found that 61 percent of small businesses faced financial challenges in 2016, with access to credit cited as the top challenge. Nav's platform is tackling this issue head-on.

"Nav's access to unique data introduces a new level of ease and transparency to small business credit and finance," said Rana Yared, Managing Director in the Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investments group. "We're excited to support Nav's efforts to empower small business owners and help them scale their platform."

As part of this strategic investment, Yared has joined as a Nav board observer.

"We're thrilled to have Rana's voice at the board level," King said. "As one of the world leaders in financial services, Goldman Sachs is an ideal partner for us as Nav grows and makes life easier for millions of small business owners."

Along with providing both business and personal credit score data tied to personalized tips and advice, Nav recently launched its free Business Loan Reality Check mobile app, which evaluates a business owner's cash flow to give additional insights into their borrowing power. Credit profiles and cash flow are the primary ways lenders evaluate small businesses. By providing data from Experian, Dun & Bradstreet, and TransUnion, Nav is the only site that shows business owners both personal and business credit scores, the FICO SBSS score and cash flow insights that help them understand how lenders view their creditworthiness.

"We are excited to be a part of the journey with Nav, helping small business owners deal with their biggest challenge -- accessing the right capital," said Anju Patwardhan, Senior Partner of CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund. "Nav's real-time financial health database combined with superior technology solutions continue to help small businesses in the United States. With CreditEase's deep Fintech industry insights and years of operating experience in small business lending, we expect stronger global cooperation between the two companies in the future."

Experian led Nav's previously announced $25 million Series B funding, with participation by Crosslink Capital, Tencent Holdings and other existing investors. Nav's Series A funding of $6.5 million was led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Financial Technology Partners LP served as exclusive strategic advisor to Nav in this transaction.

About Nav
Nav.com helps business owners get more funding, lower their costs and save time so they can create the business of their dreams. Its app gives free access to credit reports and scores specifically for small business owners, including both business and personal credit reports, cash-flow analysis, tools to help build business credit and a marketplace with more than 100 financing products, including credit cards. Its marketplace uses a lender-neutral algorithm to help business owners find the best financing options for their needs before they apply. The company has offices in Silicon Valley and Salt Lake City. For more information visit: nav.com.

About Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investments
The Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investments (PSI) group seeks to make long-term strategic investments in fast growing technology companies. The global team of investment professionals is deeply connected across Goldman Sachs' Securities Division as well as Technology and Operations groups. The PSI group's investments focus on market infrastructure, financial technology and enterprise technology companies, and often engage in a strategic relationship that may include joint product development, IP licensing arrangements, service provision arrangements and market participation agreements.