CUNA Mutual Group Buys Online Business Loans Provider
The five-year-old Mirador will keep its operations in Portland, Ore.
CUNA Mutual Group said Wednesday it has acquired Portland-based Mirador, a provider of an online platform for small-business lending.
The Madison, Wis., CUSO had become a minority investor in Mirador through its venture capital entity, CMFG Ventures LLC, in August 2017. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
“As a current investor in Mirador, we know first-hand the strength of their team and power of their platform,” said Robert N. Trunzo, president/CEO of CUNA Mutual Group.
“Through this acquisition, Mirador’s digital lending platform will complement our existing portfolio of lending solutions to help credit unions grow small-business loans and deliver an exceptional lending experience to their members,” Trunzo said.
Mirador has been working with banks, credit unions, and financial institutions across the country since it was founded in Portland in 2014 by Trevor Dryer, its CEO, and William Beaver, its chief technology officer.
Its cloud-based platform is designed to create a streamlined, efficient process, and connect small businesses to the funds they need to grow through its digital lending marketplace. It also enables lenders to decide on loans within 24 hours.
Dryer said borrowers expect a fully digital and intuitive experience. “Today’s small-business lending marketplace requires traditional lenders to couple their approach to relationship banking with greater efficiency and scale,” he said.
Trunzo said small-business lending is an important area of opportunity for credit unions. Credit unions held about $67.7 billion in commercial loans in June, accounting for 6.8% of total loans held by federally insured credit unions.
“Together with Mirador’s guidance, we will help credit unions provide another level of service to their members through better access to small business loans, further reinforcing credit unions’ commitment to serving their local communities.”
In a post Wednesday, Dryer said the company’s brand will be unchanged and its headquarters will remain in Portland. The company has been adding lenders and its platform recently crossed the $2 billion threshold for loan requests.
“Countless hard-working small business owners have shared their stories with us about the difficulty with accessing reasonably-priced capital needed to grow their businesses,” Dryer wrote.
“And, lenders have told us how challenging it is to originate small business loans cost effectively,” he wrote. “In building Mirador, we set out to bridge this gap and help more capital flow to these small businesses, which are the engine of growth of our economy.”