Creditera Empowers U.S. Small Businesses with First Free Access to Business Credit Data and Insights
Small Businesses can Build, Analyze, Protect and Utilize their Business Credit through Creditera Platform
New Funding Round for Creditera led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Fuels Creditera's Mission to Empower Small Businesses
SAN MATEO, Calif., Nov. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Creditera today announces the launch of a new, Creditera Free Membership service for small businesses to take control of their business credit and funding future. Unveiled at Money20/20 in Las Vegas, Creditera Free Membership is the first of its kind for the small business community, providing access to both personal and business credit information via a comprehensive view that will inform small businesses' actions to secure the credit needed to grow their business. In addition, Creditera announced a new round of funding led earlier this year by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
The Harvard Business School reports "every major survey points to credit access being a problem and a top growth concern for small firms during the recovery, including national surveys conducted by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and regional surveys led by the Federal Reserve."1
The new Creditera Free Membership service gives power back to small businesses through transparent insights, knowledge and recommended actions in order to take control of their small business credit and gain credit access. Creditera's Build, Analyze, Protect and Utilize process provides small businesses with a wealth of information and actionable steps.
| Build: |
Creditera showcases how to build credit through three features: |
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| 1. |
BusinessLauncher provides business owners with basic steps to lay the foundation for great business credit, such as registering their business with credit bureaus or establishing simple trade accounts. |
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| 2. |
CreditSweeper enables small businesses to ensure the information on both their business credit as well as personal credit reports is correct. |
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| 3. |
CreditTarget helps small businesses identify the areas of credit that require attention and set goals for the future. |
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| Analyze: |
Creditera Free Membership provides a consolidated view of business and personal credit data, along with advice that makes it easy to understand how actions impact business credit. Free membership represents data from the top leading credit reporting bureaus, including one personal credit score, two business credit ratings, three summary credit reports, and three sets of monitoring alerts. |
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| Protect: |
Business owners must keep track of changes to their credit in order to protect their credit health. Small business owners on Creditera receive real-time personal and business credit monitoring and alerts so they know the moment something changes. |
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| Utilize: |
Creditera's commercial marketplace matches small business owners with products and services based on their scores, so it's easy to put their credit to use. The marketplace features commercial loan options, business credit cards, and more for qualified small business owners. |
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"Healthy credit is crucial for a small business and means getting faster funding, improved cash flow and more opportunities for a business to thrive," said Levi King, co-founder and CEO of Creditera. "I've learned first-hand as a serial entrepreneur how credit can negatively impact growth and have put all that experience into building Creditera. We've developed a product and team focused on advocating for small businesses in a place where they have often been left hung out to dry. The new free membership from Creditera will help small businesses proactively take control of their credit future, so they can create the business of their dreams and help fuel the U.S. economy."
Small businesses can go to www.creditera.com to start their Free Membership account, which is free forever with no strings attached.
Creditera secures new funding round from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to fuel SMB growth
As Creditera launches its new Free Membership for small businesses, the company also announces it secured a new round of funding led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
"I love this team and their passion for helping the little guy," said Randy Komisar of Kleiner Perkins. "Small businesses are traditionally the engines of jobs and prosperity, and they are not getting access to the financing they need to participate fully in this economic recovery. Creditera has the right model and conviction to come to the aid of the small business owner while creating a very strong business of its own."
This $6.5 million Series A round of financing will be used to scale Creditera's reach to small businesses and add world-class talent to the team.
"The round of funding will only be used in ways that move the needle for small business owners. We'll continue to invest heavily in product, specifically mobile, to bring even more value to the SMB," said King. "We are not using this round to build a fancy office or throw a party. Oftentimes successful funding becomes a celebration of mediocrity for tech startups, which leads to the celebration of other vanity metrics like head count or the size of the office. We have a culture that celebrates authentic wins and metrics, which are only related to moving the needle for small business in America."
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers led the round with support from Peak Ventures and others. Creditera's seed funding was led by Kickstart Seed Fund.
About Creditera
Creditera is the first site that gives small business owners access to both their personal and business credit data and insights for free. With the goal of empowering business owners with better transparency into their small business credit, the platform includes easy-to-read personal and business credit reports, contextual advice and monitoring all in one spot. It also provides tools that help members build business credit and a marketplace that makes it easy for them to use credit to create the business of their dreams. For more information visit www.creditera.com.
1 The Harvard Business School. (July 22, 2014). The State of Small Business Lending: Credit Access during the Recovery and How Technology May Change the Game [working paper.] Retrieved from http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/15-004_09b1bf8b-eb2a-4e63-9c4e-0374f770856f.pdf
SOURCE Creditera
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