SME online lender DealStruck has reportedly shut down operations. An industry insider has told Crowdfund Insider the online lender closed shop yesterday. We have also heard that most all employees have departed the platform. The action was taken just as an 11th hour acquisition by a Utah based bank fell through. No official statement has been made but the DealStruck page notes that “DealStruck is not currently accepting new loan applications.”
DealStruck was an online balance sheet lender that focused on the SME market. The company provided credit in the form of term loans and lines of credit from $25,000 to $500,000.
A former employee contacted by Crowdfund Insider stated;
“As a former Dealstruck team member, I have such great respect for the overwhelming small business need that they were addressing. The majority of small businesses needing capital for growth are unable to access it, either because they are too new, in an industry that is traditionally unattractive to banks or have hiccups in personal credit. And too often, these are the businesses that are targeted by high-price lenders. I admire Dealstruck for choosing to offer an affordable financing product to this population, and sincerely hope that the example they have set for the past three+ years will be followed by additional lenders in the industry.”
Ethan Senturia, CEO of Dealstruck, told Crowdfund Insider;
“Although we are not currently originating new loans, we are continuing to provide our clients with the high-level of service they have come to expect from us. Over the past few years, we’ve helped thousands of small businesses create thousands more jobs, and we’ll be looking for strategic options to allow us to continue delivering on our mission to provide unique, appropriate, and affordable financing to small businesses nationwide.”
The online lending industry has struggled during 2016. The departure of the founding CEO of Lending Club threw the entire sector of finance into question. The choppy economic environment made things even more difficult as lenders struggled to rebuild investor channels to fund the loans. Dealstruck is not the first US based online lender to cease operations.
DealStruck was co-founded by Senturia and Russell McLoughlin in 2012 to take advantage of the challenging credit environment for small business.