Renaud Laplanche,Lending Club Founder and CEO, commented:
“Too many small business owners are still having a tough time getting the credit they need to grow their businesses and create jobs. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Spring 2014 Small Business Credit Survey found that 58% of small businesses want credit, but only 16% received the amount they wanted. We’re excited to partner with SCORE to help small business owners access affordable credit.”
David R. Bobbitt, president of The SCORE Foundation, explained:
“For decades, accessing financing has been one of the biggest challenges our small business clients have faced. We’re excited to now connect small businesses directly to capital they need. I’m very pleased that Lending Club will also be sharing its financing expertise with our clients to help them learn about the broad range of financing options available.”
SCORE small business clients will be able to access business loans through the Lending Club marketplace.
Bobbitt added:
“SCORE small business mentors are all volunteers—experienced executives and entrepreneurs themselves who give back by helping small business owners. And SCORE mentoring is provided at no cost. Partners like Lending Club ensure that these services reach more than 350,000 small business owners across the U.S. each year.”
Lending Club will also be providing SCORE small business mentors and clients with free training on the growing range of small business financing options available, how to calculate the cost of financing, and more via educational materials and live webinars presented by their small business financing experts.
Now that Lending Club has competed its successful IPO it is clear the business is focusing on increasing origination on the platform. This new partnership comes just a day after Lending Club announced that it is going to work with the US Women’s Chamber of Commerce in order to help give female business owners affordable access to credit. Lending Club only added business loans to its offering in early 2014 and it is clear that the platform is now actively seeking new sources of SME borrowers.
