Kabbage Acquires SMB Data Analytics Firm Radius

Small business lending platform Kabbage has announced the acquisition of data analytics platform Radius Intelligence.

In a press release on Tuesday (Sept. 3), Kabbage said the takeover will enable it to obtain a more holistic view into the financial state of its small business customers. The online lending platform pointed to Radius Intelligence’s capabilities in data acquisition and entity resolution, which enable its data analytics platform to analyze disparate and complex datasets, it said. That data analysis aims to provide actionable insights into small businesses’ cash flow.

The acquisition will see Kabbage take on 20 new team members in its San Francisco office, with Radius Intelligence CEO Joel Carusone also joining Kabbage to support the integration of the data analytics solution into its offering.

“Data has always been our competitive advantage, and Radius strengthens it by adding millions of new and verified small business insights to our platform,” Kabbage CEO Rob Frohwein said in a statement. “These new technology and data analysis capabilities further differentiate us from other SMB-focused FinTech companies as we dramatically expand our product set and service platform to address the unique cash flow needs of small businesses.”

It is unclear whether the acquisition means Kabbage will deploy Radius Intelligence technology for its own analysis of small business cash flow, or whether the integration will see Kabbage connecting its small business customers to Radius Intelligence’s platform.

In another statement, Carusone pointed to the role data plays in small business cash flow management. “As a company dedicated to small business analytics and data management, we’ve always had a deep respect for Kabbage’s data-driven technology and focus,” he said. “Our companies have complementary technical architectures and domain experience for decision-making. With Kabbage, we can build a more sophisticated analytics solution to identify, reach and service small businesses.”

Earlier this year, Kabbage announced a $700 million fundraise to fuel its small business lending operations, in the largest asset-backed securitization by a small business online lending company to date.