The firm has raised an undisclosed amount of money from Route 66 Ventures LLC. The round is a follow on from the seed funding investment that was made by SBT Venture Capital back in November 2014. The latest fundraise is designed to accelerate the development of AMP’s technology platform – which combines innovative credit modeling with daily cash flow data in order to empower a range of traditional lenders to write short-term, unsecured loans to small businesses.
Thomas J. DeLuca, CEO of Advanced Merchant Payments, commented:
“We are delighted that Route 66 Ventures has chosen to invest in AMP. This represents a strong validation of our business vision of empowering banks and business service providers to use our alternative lending technologies for the benefit of their small business customers in a manner that is equitable, clear and fully transparent to the borrowers. We look forward to partnering with Route 66 in AMP’s growth journey as we take alternative lending to the next level by providing a better financing option to small businesses in filling their cash flow gaps and benefiting the wider business community.”
AMP launched its services within the UK a few weeks ago, at the Innovate Finance Global Summit 2015. Prior to its UK rollout, the company had been facilitating and in fact providing the capital for small business lending in Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines. Mr. DeLuca is of the belief that banks and other financial institutions are increasingly comfortable with the risks of SME lending, due in part to the successes of the alternative business funding providers.
If Mr. DeLuca proves to be correct, and AMP can supply the requisite technology, with the British Business Bank’s “Enable” programme effectively lessening the amount of regulatory capital that the banks have to set aside in order to lend to SMEs – the market suddenly looks much more competitive.
Pascal Bouvier, General Partner at Route 66 Ventures, shed some light on the investment:
“As an international investment firm focused on the financial services industry, we are continuously looking for disruptive platforms and amazing teams that are revolutionising the way businesses and people consume financial services. We are excited to say that we have found a truly special case in Advanced Merchant Payments. We are a proud investor in Advanced Merchant Payments and look forward to helping them on their journey to revolutionise the SME lending landscape around the globe.”
