CPE News (11/10/2020) – Thinking Capital Financial Corporation, a subsidiary of Purpose Financial, has acquired Ario, a finance-as-a-service technology platform. The acquisition allows Thinking Capital to better support Canadian small businesses through their recovery and renewed growth from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Avinash Chidambaram, co-founder & CEO of Ario, has joined Thinking Capital as Chief Product Officer.
In August 2018, Purpose Financial invested $10 million for a controlling interest in Ario.
Led by Som Seif, Purpose Financial is backed by OMERS and TorQuest.
photo credit: Ario
News Release
Thinking Capital acquires leading FinTech platform and reaches $1 Billion of Small Business Funding Milestone
Thinking Capital, leading FinTech and provider of credit to small businesses across Canada, announces the completion of a transaction to acquire Ario, builder of a leading-edge finance-as-a-service platform.
MONTREAL, Nov. 10, 2020 /CNW/ – Thinking Capital Financial Corporation (“Thinking Capital” or the “Company”), Canada’s leading digital lender to small businesses, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Ario, a leading-edge finance-as-a-service technology platform. The acquisition allows Thinking Capital to better support Canadian small businesses through their recovery and renewed growth from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“In an economy that became substantially more digital over the last months, the Ario transaction will allow us to build on a cutting-edge cloud-based financial platform, designed from the ground up to serve small businesses,” said Stéphane Marceau, CEO of Thinking Capital. “As part of the Purpose Financial ecosystem, we have been partners with Ario for several years and we are thrilled to welcome the Ario team comprised of some of the country’s top engineers and developers.”
The acquisition of Ario is a critical enabler to help Thinking Capital accelerate its FinTech vision in the Canadian marketplace. The Ario platform uses proprietary data and algorithms to offer cost-efficient digital lending and cashflow management solutions for small businesses.
“From our inception in 2017, we assembled a top team to build the next generation of FinTech services with an aim towards helping small business owners manage their cashflow,” said Avinash Chidambaram, co-founder & CEO of Ario, and now Chief Product Officer at Thinking Capital. “We are excited to have become one company dedicated to empowering small businesses as they either find their way back to growth after a difficult period or to simply accelerate their continued growth momentum.”
Purpose Financial, the parent company of Thinking Capital, was an investor in Ario prior to this transaction. “We invested in Ario back in 2017 and acquired Thinking Capital in 2018. Both of these transactions had the goal of supporting Canada’s small business community by creating a financial service experience built around the SMB journey. We are proud of the team at Ario for what they have built over the past three years and we are excited to have the power of the combined entity with Thinking Capital. Bringing the two companies together will strengthen our ability to achieve our mission and empower even more Canadian small businesses to achieve great success” said Som Seif, CEO of Purpose Financial.
In recent months, Thinking Capital reached the $1 billion mark of funding provided to Canadian small businesses. “This last year has been challenging for many of the entrepreneurs we serve,” said Marceau. “Nonetheless, over 80% of our those we worked with through payment deferral plans since COVID hit, are now back on normal plans and rebuilding their business, some of them thriving in new ways. We are inspired every day by the resilience of the small businesses we serve in every province all across Canada; that is what fuels our team’s continuous efforts to be there for them when it counts and to innovate on their behalf.”
For more information on Thinking Capital, please visit www.thinkingcapital.ca
ABOUT THINKING CAPITAL
Thinking Capital is Canada’s largest non-bank lender to small businesses. Since inception in 2006, the company has provided over $1B in funding to over 16,000 small businesses in Canada, empowering them to quickly, conveniently and securely access capital to grow. The company has offices in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. Thinking Capital is a subsidiary of Purpose Financial, a technology-focused financial services platform leading innovation on behalf of consumers and small businesses. Purpose is backed by some of Canada’s leading investors, OMERS and TorQuest.
SOURCE Thinking Capital
For further information: Media: William Ross, wross@thinkingcapital.ca