CircleBack Lending Raises $1.9 Million, adds Chief Credit Officer and other Key Team Members
Boca Raton, Fl (PRWEB) January 08, 2014 -- CircleBack Lending (https://www.circlebacklending.com) has closed a $1.9 Million equity financing led by Daniel Tierney and Stephen Schuler, founders of GETCO LLC, an electronic securities trading firm that merged with Knight Capital Group earlier this year. “GETCO revolutionized the way investors trade stocks by utilizing new technology,” said CircleBack CEO Michael Solomon. “Today, we see a similar opportunity in the consumer credit market, and look forward to leveraging Dan and Stephen’s experience as we scale.”
CircleBack Lending launched in July 2013 with the goal of providing personal loans to prime consumers at better rates than they can typically get from traditional banks or credit cards. CircleBack partners with private funds, community banks, endowments, and family offices, who purchase these loans as an alternative investment. There has been a surge of interest from investors over the past year, as peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms like Lending Club and Prosper have shown attractive asset returns and rapid growth—$4 billion in consumer loans have already been originated.
In addition to the capital raise, CircleBack has expanded its core team to include Alan Schiffres as Chief Credit Officer. Mr. Schiffres previously led the Consumer Risk Management and Advanced Analytics practices at Novantas, and served in multiple managerial positions at Citicorp, Dean Witter, and American Express, where he was Senior Risk Officer for the Gold/Platinum Card Division and consumer lending products.
CircleBack has also added John Donovan, Mitch Braselton, Dr. Donald Kumka, and Richard Taverna to its Board of Advisors. Mr. Donovan was formerly Chief Operating Officer of Lending Club and Vice President of Global Product Development at MasterCard. Mr. Braselton is the Founder of Eastland Peak Capital, and has previously been a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank Securities, Morgan Stanley, and Garrison Investment Group. Dr. Kumka and Mr. Taverna are seasoned credit risk analysts with expertise in advanced statistical modeling, monitoring, and forecasting for the consumer lending industry.
In today’s economy, borrowers are looking for cost-effective personal loans to pay off high-interest credit card debts and for other purposes such as home improvement. At the same time, investor demand for consumer debt yield continues to rise. “CircleBack will be ramping up quickly in 2014 to help connect consumers with the capital they need to manage their personal finances efficiently,” says Solomon. “With a new round of equity funding and an experienced team of financial professionals in place, I am confident we will achieve our goal of providing responsible credit to consumers, while offering an attractive alternative investment to asset managers.”
About CircleBack Lending, Inc. (https://www.circlebacklending.com)
CircleBack Lending is an Internet-based finance company that provides prime consumers in the United States with a fast and efficient way to borrow money at attractive interest rates. CircleBack also offers institutional investors a robust, transparent platform to invest in consumer loans.
John Roberts, Circleback Lending, Inc., http://www.circlebacklending.com, +1 (561) 922-8853, [email protected]
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