OREANDA-NEWS. ING has taken an equity stake in US based fintech company Kabbage, a leading technology and data platform powering automated lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The investment is part of a financing round in which Kabbage raised USD 135 million of capital.

Since launching in Atlanta only four years ago, Kabbage has grown to provide \\$1 billion in funds annually to consumers and SMEs, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in small business finance. Kabbage substantially speeds up the process of loan application and approval, allowing SMEs with an existing business account to get a loan of USD 2,000 to USD 100,000 within a few minutes based on real-time business data.

In addition to ING’s equity participation in Kabbage, the companies are exploring cooperation in the field of SME lending. Announcements on the cooperation are expected shortly.

“This step is another example of how ING is continuously looking at creating a differentiating experience for our customers,” Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING, said. “The transaction is in line with ING’s strategic priority to increase the pace of innovation and to serve changing customer needs by working with both dedicated internal teams and with outside partners and startups.”

Rob Frohwein, Kabbage co-founder and CEO: “This funding enables us to continue to set the industry standard through platform lending, bringing our seamless user experience to millions of customers around the world directly and through our platform partners. ING is a global leader with deep expertise across financial services and technology to further develop our trajectory.”