Lendio, the leading small business lending marketplace that helps business owners secure financing, today announced the company has raised a $20.5 million round of funding led by Napier Park’s Financial Partners Group, along with Blumberg Capital, North Hill Ventures, Pivot Investment Partners and prior investors Tribeca Venture Partners, Runa Capital and Highway 12 Ventures. The company will use the funding to accelerate online innovation to make it easier for business owners to find financing, deepen relationships with lenders, expand the partnership program and grow its team of trusted loan advisors.

Dan Kittredge, managing director at Napier Park, and Chris Gottschalk, principal at Blumberg Capital, will be joining Lendio’s board of directors as part of the deal.

“We’re excited to be a part of Lendio’s future to be the number one marketplace for small business loans,” says Kittredge. “Through its growth over the past few years and its major partnerships with brands like Staples, Lendio’s leadership team has proven its ability to drive innovation and deliver an incredible platform that helps both small business owners and small business lenders alike.”

Lendio’s funding news follows the recent IPOs of marketplace lending platforms Lending Club and OnDeck Capital, who are lender partners on the platform.

“Lendio has become the go-to hub for small business owners to obtain the financing they need to grow and thrive. Our focus is to provide three essential benefits to the business owner — offer a wide variety of loan options, speed up the process and reduce the time and effort it requires to get funded, and provide a white-glove trusted experience,” says Brock Blake, Lendio’s founder and CEO.

“Because we have served hundreds of thousands of business owners, we’ve been able to scale our business and improve the lending experience through an easy-to-use online matching platform, advanced machine learning and lender integrations,” Blake said.

Marketplace lending has become a particularly attractive sector for investors as traditional lending to small businesses continues to decline. According to Accenture, global investment in financial technology more than tripled between 2008 and 2013.

(image credit: OwenXu)