{{short description|Online financial technology company}} {{Infobox website | name = Kabbage Inc. | logo = Kabbage logo.png | url = {{url |kabbage.com}} {{deadlink|date=April 2024}} | type = Financial services | owner = American Express | author = {{bulleted list|Rob Frohwein|Kathryn Petralia|Marc Gorlin}} | launch_date = {{Start date and age|2009|02|12|df=no}} | dissolved = {{end date |2020 }} | successor = American Express Business Blueprint | revenue = {{increase}} $200 million(2017) | current_status = Redirected }}
'''Kabbage''' was an online financial technology company based in Atlanta.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2020/08/11/report-atlantas-kabbage-in-talks-to-be-bought.html|title=Report: Atlanta's Kabbage in talks to be bought by American Express|publisher=American City Business Journals|language=en|access-date=2020-11-03}}</ref>
The company provided unsecured loans and funding directly to small businesses and consumers through an automated lending platform.<ref name=CNN>{{cite web|last1=O'Brien|first1=Sara Ashley|title=Banks won't lend? Use these guys instead|url=https://money.cnn.com/gallery/smallbusiness/2014/07/17/alternative-lending-banks/6.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720004755/http://money.cnn.com/gallery/smallbusiness/2014/07/17/alternative-lending-banks/6.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 20, 2014|website=CNN Money|date=17 July 2014 |publisher=CNN}}</ref> In 2020, the company was acquired by American Express and its mobile app was rebranded as ''American Express Business Blueprint''.<ref name="Treece 2022">{{Cite web | first1 = Kiah | last1 = Treece | first2 = Jordan | last2 = Tarver | title = Kabbage Business Loans Review 2022 | url = https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business-loans/kabbage-review |website = Forbes Advisor | date = February 21, 2022 | access-date = June 30, 2022 }}</ref>
==History== Kabbage launched and began providing loans in May 2011.<ref name=Reuters>{{cite news|last1=Williams|first1=Charles|title=Kabbage raises USD270m from credit facility|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/markets-structuredfinance-idUSL2N0N01EU20140409|website=Reuters|date=9 April 2014 }}</ref> In 2012, it opened its San Francisco office and subsequently raised $30 million in Series C financing.<ref name="TechCrunch">{{cite web |last1=Rao |first1=Leena |date=18 September 2012 |title=Data-Focused Online Merchant Lender Kabbage Raises $30M From UPS, SV Angel And Others |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/17/data-focused-online-merchant-lender-kabbage-raises-30m-from-ups-sv-angel-and-others/ |website=TechCrunch}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.redherring.com/events/rhna/americas-2012-top-100-winners/| title = 2012 Red Herring North America: Winners}} Red Herring. Retrieved on 2014-11-20.</ref> Beginning in February 2013, the company expanded internationally, entering the United Kingdom<ref name="UK">{{cite web|last1=Rao|first1=Leena|title=Kabbage Brings Data-Focused Online Merchant Lending To The UK|url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/02/11/kabbage-brings-data-focused-online-merchant-lending-to-the-uk/|website=TechCrunch|date=12 February 2013 }}</ref> and raising further debt financing.<ref name="Rao">{{cite web |last1=Rao |first1=Leena |date=3 April 2013 |title=Kabbage Raises $75M In Debt To Fund Online Merchants On Amazon, eBay, And Etsy |url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/04/03/kabbage-raises-75m-in-debt-to-fund-online-merchants-on-amazon-ebay-and-etsy/ |website=TechCrunch}}</ref> Between 2014 and 2017, the company raised a further $435M in equity funding, and $970M in debt financing.
At its peak, Kabbage lent over $1B each year to small businesses. On October 16, 2020, Kabbage was acquired by American Express and was subsequently rebranded as ''American Express Business Blueprint''.<ref name="Treece 2022" />
In October 2022, Kabbage d/b/a K Servicing (an entity which was not acquired by American Express) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following a report by the United States Congress which suggested it might have facilitated fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program payouts during the COVID-19 pandemic but the allegations are, as of yet, unsubstantiated.<ref>{{cite news |title=Loan Platform Kabbage Files for Bankruptcy Amid PPP Investigations |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/loan-platform-kabbage-files-for-bankruptcy-amid-ppp-investigations-11664924367 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=October 4, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=May 18, 2021 |title=Hundreds of PPP Loans Went to Fake Farms in Absurd Places |work=ProPublica |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/ppp-farms |access-date=6 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=6 December 2022 |title=A congressional report says financial technology companies fueled rampant PPP fraud |language=en |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/12/06/1140823783/a-congressional-report-says-financial-technology-companies-fueled-rampant-ppp-fr |access-date=2022-12-07}}</ref>
==Purpose== Kabbage provided small businesses with debt facilities. In March 2020, Kabbage suspended lending services for active and new customers in favor of offering loans to U.S. businesses through the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) introduced as part of the Trump administration's COVID-19 economic stimulus package.<ref name="washpost">{{cite news |last1=Faux |first1=Zeke |last2=Surane |first2=Jenny |title=SoftBank-Backed Lender Kabbage Cuts Off Businesses As Cash Needs Mount |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/softbank-backed-lender-kabbage-cuts-off-businesses-as-cash-needs-mount/2020/04/01/902f6694-7453-11ea-ad9b-254ec99993bc_story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200404044241/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/softbank-backed-lender-kabbage-cuts-off-businesses-as-cash-needs-mount/2020/04/01/902f6694-7453-11ea-ad9b-254ec99993bc_story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 April 2020 |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=21 April 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{American Express}}
Category:Online financial services companies of the United States Category:Financial services companies established in 2009 Category:2009 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:American companies established in 2009 Category:Companies based in Atlanta Category:Internet properties established in 2009 Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions Category:American Express Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2022