Marcus Lemonis Rebuked Kabbage on Twitter
While the fintech community heralded Kabbage’s $250 million Series F round this morning, small business fixer and CNBC TV star Marcus Lemonis was not impressed.
On twitter, Lemonis wrote to Squawk Box host Carl Quintanilla, who was airing a segment about Kabbage, to say that Kabbage charged ridiculous rates. The short rant, which totaled 4 tweets, zinged Kabbage by calling them a lender of last resort and “not a friend of small business.”
Wouldn't call @KabbageInc #kabbage a lender. Ridiculous rates @carlquintanilla @SquawkAlley
— Marcus Lemonis (@marcuslemonis) August 3, 2017
Not a friend of small business. Lender of last resort with fees and rates
— Marcus Lemonis (@marcuslemonis) August 3, 2017
@SoftBank likes the high rate account sweep tactics
— Marcus Lemonis (@marcuslemonis) August 3, 2017
He should be glad I'm not there
— Marcus Lemonis (@marcuslemonis) August 3, 2017
Though Lemonis did not respond to my tweet that asked him if there were any online lenders he thought positively of, he likely is no stranger to the phenomenon. Last year, I pointed out that several small businesses that have appeared on his show, The Profit, have used nonbank alternatives.
In Season 3, Da Lobsta, a Chicago Sandwich shop, reported owing $140,000 to an internet lender and $40,000 to Square.
Square Capital, which has since traded merchant cash advances for actual loans, reported making 49,000 loans to small businesses last quarter alone for a total of $318 million. Kabbage, meanwhile, has lent $3.5 billion to more than 115,000 small businesses in their lifetime.
Last modified: August 3, 2017
Sean Murray is the President and Chief Editor of deBanked and the founder of the Broker Fair Conference. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on twitter. You can view all future AltFinanceDaily events here.
