.jpg){kind=avatar}
NYC based Orchard, a provider of lending data and services for institutional investors, is set to be acquired by SME lending platform Kabbage - according to sources familiar with the deal. Orchard had raised $40m from Spark Capital, Thrive Capital, and other investors.
A couple of years after its founding, Orchard expressed ambitions to become a trading platform for loan securities, but things didn’t work out as planned. Large marketplaces like LendingClub Corp. were reluctant to give Orchard permission to trade their loans due to regulatory concerns. As the business wobbled, Orchard had been searching for a buyer in recent weeks, said one person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private. Kabbage focuses on small businesses and also licenses technology to banks, much like Orchard. SoftBank Group Corp. kicked $250 million into the Atlanta-based startup last August, bringing its total equity investment to more than $500 million, Kabbage has said.
unknownx500
