OnDeck is a US-based alternative business lender that was launched back in 2007. The platform has since lent over $1 billion to over 20,000 businesses across all 50 states. Now OnDeck is preparing to file for an IPO that looks set to value the business at approximately $1.5 billion. The online small business lender is working with the investment banks Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank in a bid to raise around $200 million.
David Goldin, the CEO of one of OnDeck’s business lending competitors AmeriMerchant, stated:
"This industry is expanding, and the OnDeck IPO shows that Wall Street is now taking this industry seriously."
The company’s revenue doubled to $65 million over the course of 2013. Earlier this year OnDeck raised $77 million in an equity round led by Tiger Global management – taking its venture capital raised to $180 million. Other participants in that fundraising round included Google Ventures, PayPal’s co-founder Peter Thiel and former American Express CEO, James Robinson III.
Any talk of an IPO within the alternative finance space ends up inexorably tied back to the impending listing of peer-to-peer powerhouse Lending Club, which could arrive as early as Q3. Lending Club will be seeking a rough valuation of $5 billion for an IPO that will undoubtedly set the bar for a series of subsequent listings.
