Camino Financial, Lendio Collaborate To Provide SMB Capital

In order to provide funding for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) for underserved communities, mission-driven financial technology firm Camino Financial has teamed with lending marketplace Lendio, according to a Wednesday (April 14) announcement.

Camino Financial CEO Sean Salas said that the relationship has the goal of making sure that the capital needs of more Latinx and Black owners are met, particularly as the capital disparity gap has been heightened amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Lendio’s extensive reach and reputation for simplifying the funding process, coupled with Camino Financial’s ability to leverage data and AI [artificial intelligence] to offer affordable rates to underserved businesses, form a dynamic duo that will scale impact to meet the over $60 billion unmet capital demand in these high potential markets,” Salas said in the announcement.

Camino Financial becomes a part of an expanding collection of community lenders on the Lendio marketplace system.

The Los Angeles-based company, which also runs a Mexico City office, has an application programming interface (API) connection that will offer access to Camino Financial loans to help Latinx- and Black-owned companies. It also offers complimentary access to business resources for small business owners through its website.

“Lendio and Camino are aligned in our mission to make access to capital more inclusive, particularly for very small businesses and for women- and minority-owned businesses,” Lendio CEO and Founder Brock Blake said in the announcement.

Blake said that Main Street companies are the backbone of the economy, and those companies also have an important part in “enriching our communities and our lives.”

“At Lendio, we are passionate about helping these businesses thrive, and we do so by connecting them with the right lender to meet their needs,” Blake said in the announcement.

Lendio, which says it’s the country’s “leading small business loan marketplace,” lets those who own small companies seek out different loan products by the way of one application.

Last July, Lendio unveiled a collaboration with Web.com to help small companies access COVID-related relief.