Uplinq Financial Technologies, a global credit assessment platform for small-to-medium sized business (SMB) lenders, has raised $3.5m in a pre-seed funding round.
The round was led by venture capital investors, N49P and Surface Ventures. MoVi Partners, Impulsum Ventures, Magic Fund, Assure Syndicates, and the DVC Syndicate also participated in the round.
Additionally, several notable FinTech executives participated in the raise, including: the former president of Experian consumer services, co-founder at SoFi, former CIO and treasurer at JPMorgan Chase, former head of risk at Scotiabank, and the former CTO at FIS.
Uplinq’s technology enables SMB lenders to use billions of unique and validated data signals that go beyond traditional credit indicators, to help make the most accurate decisions possible. The company’s technology has powered over USD $1.4trn in underwritten loans since its inception.
Uplinq launched its operations at the beginning of 2022, following a long planning cycle. The company’s founder and CEO, Ron Benegbi, is a serial entrepreneur now working on his fifth startup. Previously, Benegbi served as co-founder and president of Railz.ai.
The capital will help scale Uplinq’s operations across the globe. Uplinq said it will also use the funding to further refine its solution. This update will allow the company to provide even more precise and predictive insights within the credit-decisioning process, empowering lenders to understand the financial performance of small businesses.
Speaking about his business journey, Ron Benegbi, said, “As an immigrant to Canada in the 1970’s, I watched my parents struggle to make a living as small business owners. We were very fortunate that one bank manager took a ‘flyer’ on my dad when he applied for a loan, even though he made it clear that the application did not meet the bank’s lending criteria. Most small business owners are not nearly as fortunate as this, which is why I started Uplinq.”
Copyright © 2022 FinTech Global
