News & Press
ApplePie Capital Partners With Three More Franchise Brands
Fourteen Franchisors Now Participating At Leading Marketplace For Franchise Loans
San Francisco, May 20, 2015 – ApplePie Capital, the first marketplace lender solely dedicated to the franchise industry, today announced partnership agreements with Tropical Smoothie Café, Wetzel’s Pretzels and 18|8 Fine Men’s Salons. The new partnerships enable ApplePie Capital to provide efficient funding in 30 days or less for qualified franchisee borrowers to start, expand, remodel, refinance, or recapitalize their business.
Top exec at peer-to-peer lending giant grabs a slice of S.F.'s ApplePie Capital
Prosper Marketplace President Ron Suber personally invested in San Francisco-based ApplePie Capital's latest round that raised $6 million. ApplePie's financing was led by Signia Venture Partners, with Freestyle Capital and QED Investors participating. QED also backed Prosper and LendUp. When you see some of the most successful people and venture firms stepping up to back ApplePie Capital, it signals that the startup is on to something big.
ApplePie Capital Raises $6 Million In Series A Funding and $28 Million in Debt Capital Commitments to Fund Franchise Loans
San Francisco, April 9, 2015 – ApplePie Capital, the first marketplace lender solely dedicated to the franchise industry, today announced it has closed a $6 million Series A round led by Signia Venture Partners, with participation from Freestyle Capital and QED Investors. Also investing in the round is Ron Suber, President of Prosper, a leading consumer lending marketplace.
ApplePie Capital also announced that it has raised more than $28 million in debt capital commitments from institutional and individual investors to fund franchise loans. ApplePie Capital originates loans to franchise entrepreneurs and offers loans to investors in whole or fractionally on its franchise loan marketplace.
The Series A round, together with the debt capital commitment, will accelerate ApplePie Capital’s rapid growth and strengthen its position as the preeminent marketplace lender for the franchise industry.
Franchise Loan Funder ApplePie Capital Raises $6 Million in Series A. Receives $28 Million in Debt Commitments
San Francisco based ApplePie Capital, an internet funding portal that wants to “democratize access to capital and help franchise entrepreneurs achieve their dream” has raised $6 million in a Series A funding round as the stampede to invest in the future of finance continues. ApplePie also said they had received $28 million in debt capital from both individuals and institutions to fund franchise loans. ApplePie Capital has now raised nearly $10 million in equity capital for its growth and operations. In July, the company raised $3.77 million in a seed round led by Freestyle Capital, with contributions from Signia Venture Partners, QED Investors, and angel investors.
ApplePie Capital Raises Funding to Serve Up Lending for Franchises
As online lending platforms gain momentum in the financial world, new startup ApplePie Capital Inc. told Venture Capital Dispatch it raised $6 million in Series A funds for its service. It also received $28 million as a pool of debt capital to use for issuing loans.
The San Francisco-based company offers an alternative source of loans for a particular type of small business, franchisees, which represents around $500 billion of U.S. gross domestic product annually.
Borrowers can come to its website and get loans quickly and on good terms, while lenders can find good returns, according to Denise Thomas, ApplePie’s co-founder and chief executive.
ApplePie Capital: New Franchise Lender Takes Off
ApplePie Capital, which began offering a new, innovative source of franchisee funding earlier this year, has announced three new brands, marking 11 brands now participating in its franchise loan marketplace. The three new brands are Brain Balance Achievement Centers, Brightway Insurance, and Capriotti's Sandwich Shop. ApplePie had previously announced AdvantaClean, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Fast-Fix Jewelry and Watch Repair, Marco's Pizza, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Phenix Salon Suites, RNR Tire Express, and Sola Salon Studios.
The impetus behind the company's formation was to provide a franchise loan marketplace that connects franchisees in need of capital with investors seeking fixed-income returns by investing in operators of proven franchise brands. ApplePie combines the emerging concept of peer-to-peer lending with its own capital from institutional and individual qualified investors. Loan amounts range from $100,000 to $1 million.
ApplePie Capital Partners With Three More Franchise Brands
Eleven Franchisors Now Participating At Leading Marketplace For Franchise Loans
San Francisco, March 31, 2015 – ApplePie Capital, the first marketplace lender solely dedicated to the franchise industry, today announced partnership agreements with Brain Balance Achievement Centers, Brightway Insurance and Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop.
Each franchise brand has been pre-qualified by ApplePie Capital in order to provide a fast and efficient financing alternative for their franchisees. ApplePie Capital provides qualified franchisee borrowers with loans of $100,000 to $1,000,000 to start, expand, remodel, refinance, or recapitalize their business. ApplePie Capital then enables individual and institutional investors seeking attractive fixed-income returns to invest in these opportunities on their franchise loan marketplace.
New Marketplace Lender ApplePie Targets Franchisees
ApplePie Capital, a new marketplace lender that specializes in lending to franchises, has officially opened for business.
The San Francisco startup closed its seed round of initial funding in July after raising $3.8 million from venture capital investors such as Freestyle Capital, QED Investors, and Signia Venture Partners. It completed its first loan this week and has secured partnerships with seven franchise chains ranging from salons to jewelry repair to pizza.
"We're completely focused on the franchise industry," co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Denise Thomas said in an interview, adding that franchisees will typically be referred to ApplePie by the parent company.
ApplePie Capital making first loans to franchisees amid strong demand
San Francisco-based ApplePie Capital, a marketplace lender focused on financing franchisees, said Wednesday that it began lending with more than $25 million in loan demand.
The firm also said it's now working with seven franchised brands. Phenix Salon Suites is the latest brand, or franchisor, to join the platform. ApplePie CEO Denise Thomas said the company is negotiating with several other brands that want to work with the marketplace lender, which was established last November.
"The strong demand that we've seen from the franchise industry in just a few months shows that franchise entrepreneurs are in real need of a more efficient alternative to traditional lenders," Thomas said. "We bring unprecedented speed and efficiency to franchise borrowers who for decades have relied on time-consuming, offline processes."
Lending program generates interest from franchisees
ApplePie Capital is bringing investors to the franchise lending business.
The San Francisco-based startup officially launched this week a marketplace-lending program for franchises. Since its soft launch in November, it has already generated $25 million in loan demand from franchises, including those with restaurants like Einstein Bros. Bagels and Marco’s Pizza.
Marketplace lending is similar to crowdfunding, or crowd lending, in that it gives investors the opportunity to participate in a loan to an organization — in this instance, franchise businesses.
The difference is that marketplace lenders like ApplePie guarantee funding to the franchisee and then give qualified investors the opportunity to participate in those loans.