StreetShares, a financial technology company, announced a new “Main Street Heroes” initiative to provide free technology to help institutions make loans to small businesses impacted by COVID-19.
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In September 2019, StreetShares launched a small business “Lending-as-a-Service” technology platform. Since its launch, nearly 30 banks, credit unions, and alternative lenders have used the award-winning technology to offer business loans.
The trend of bank branch closures, combined with only 1% of banks having the full-capabilities to make loans digitally, has significantly weakened the industry’s ability to serve its most vulnerable customers, particularly in the current environment. StreetShares “Main Street Heroes” initiative waives software subscription fees through the rest of the year for entities who sign up to fund small businesses impacted by the coronavirus.
“In the wake of the coronavirus, business owners and regulators are both asking lenders to do more to help Main Street,” said StreetShares CEO Mark L. Rockefeller. “But most banks and credit unions simply have no ability to make these loans digitally. StreetShares has the needed technology and can power lenders to be the heroes that Main Street needs right now.”
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The initiative follows the closing of a $5 million financing round, which included funding from Motley Fool Ventures and existing investors.
“The StreetShares team has raised Lending-as-a-Service to a new level,” said Ollen Douglass, Motley Fool Ventures Managing Director. “By using StreetShares’ solution, lenders can now quickly and efficiently serve the small business customer that they otherwise might have turned away.”
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