Toronto-based Wave, which provides entrepreneurs with accounting, payroll, and invoice software to run their small businesses, has officially stepped into the lending space.
Wave is partnering with US-based OnDeck, which provides small business lending. Lending by Wave will use OnDeck’s platform to streamline and automate the lending process within Wave’s platform. Entrepreneurs can request between $5,000 to $500,000, and the company — which currently boasts 2.3 million customers — promises to have funds available as soon as the next business day.
“Cash flow and access to capital are essential for small businesses to grow, but often hard to get, because traditional financial institutions can’t serve this segment effectively,” said Kirk Simpson, CEO and co-founder of Wave. “Our partnership with OnDeck reinforces Wave’s commitment to improving access to a full scope of small business financial services, and provides small business owners a better option than going to a bank for the funds they need to succeed.”
The news comes four months after Wave raised $14.6 million in funding. At the time, the company said it was on its way to $20 million ARR by the end of the year, and wanted to use the funding to grow its team to 150, invest in R&D, and expand its mobile processes. Its total funding to date sits at $62.3 million.
In November 2016, Wave made a key hire in former NEXT Canada co-president Peter Carrescia, who joined as Wave’s senior vice president of strategy and corporate development.
“We’ve really found the growth curve at Wave, and the opportunities in front of us in terms of partnerships are now really significant,” Simpson said at the time.