Ezbob, the small business finance provider have announced the purchase of Everline.
Everline was the small business finance arm of Wonga, better known for their consumer lending. Everline was branded and marketed quite separately from the Wonga consumer business and now, combined with the Ezbob brand, positions the parent company Orange Money Ltd as the biggest business e-lender in the UK.
Ezbob and Everline have collectively provided over 5,000 business loans and lent more than £54 million to small businesses since their inception in 2012. Ezbob are also the first online SME lender to be an approved financial intermediary for the European Investment Fund (EIF), and it is backed by the UK Government through the Angel Co-Fund.
The acquisition opens up funding up to £150,000 over 18 months for Everline customers making online finance available in minutes to Limited Companies, Limited Partnerships and Sole Traders. The application process is online with no paperwork and, once approved, funds are sent within five minutes.
Tomer Guriel, CEO, Orange Money Ltd said: “Collectively we are now the biggest business e-lender in the UK and remain focused on providing more businesses with the finance they need to fuel and sustain growth. This is an exciting acquisition for us, as it brings together two strong brands in Ezbob and Everline, both of which have disrupted traditional business lending. Our market leading technology platform complements Everline’s well-positioned brand – the combination of the two will accelerate our growth, which has already been more than doubling year on year for each brand since launch”.
Orange Money Ltd has also announced today the hiring of Russell Gould, former Everline Managing Director, as its Chief Operating Officer. Russell launched and ran Everline from inception and joins the business at a pivotal point. Tomer told us “We are delighted to announce that Russell is joining the management team and we look forward to working with him to take the strong foundations from both businesses and create an even stronger business for the future”.
Under the leadership of Tomer and Russell, Orange Money Ltd will market to UK small businesses under both the Everline and the Ezbob brands and plans are in place to undertaking a brand review in the coming months. Customers will now have access to loans of up to £150,000 for 18 months and will also benefit from a 28-40% saving in loan costs – based on risk based pricing. Previously Everline had offered loans up to £50,000 for 12 months at rates of 26% per annum.
Congratulations to the all the guys at Ezbob!
