PeerIQ, a leading provider of data and analytics for the lending sector, announced that it has closed a $12 million Series A funding round, co-led by TransUnion, Hearst’s Financial Venture Fund and Macquarie Group, along with existing investors Uprising and former Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack. With the new capital, PeerIQ will expand its core platform to unlock more value for its clients, extend beyond online into traditional lending markets, and collaborate on new product initiatives with its strategic partners.
“Since launching our platform in 2015, we’ve seen tremendous growth, expanding our customer base from asset managers to now investment banks, lenders, and ABS investors,” said Ram Ahluwalia, Founder and CEO of PeerIQ. “This investment, along with the strategic support that comes with it, will further extend our platform into those new segments, led by new data offerings, credit facility management, and ABS toolkits.”
Already a core data partner to PeerIQ, TransUnion is deepening its relationship, with Steve Chaouki, executive vice president and head of TransUnion’s financial services business unit, joining the PeerIQ board. Shea Wallon, managing director of Hearst’s Financial Venture Fund, which invests in early-stage financial information, service and technology companies, is joining the board as well.
“We combined TransUnion’s deep datasets with PeerIQ’s risk analytics platform to offer institutional investors and lenders powerful tools to optimize their loan portfolios for the capital markets and make better investment decisions,” said Chaouki. “This investment accelerates PeerIQ’s efforts, beginning with the launch of new, investor-focused products this fall, including credit performance trends, modeling data archives, benchmarking analysis, and regulatory compliance tools.”
“We see tremendous opportunity for PeerIQ’s loan-level analytics to increase transparency and liquidity in the securitized products markets,” said Richard P. Malloch, President of Hearst Business Media. “Pairing the PeerIQ platform with Hearst’s risk expertise will provide powerful tools across the capital markets.”
Michael McLaughlin, Head of Credit Markets at Macquarie Group, a global investment bank, added: “As a major provider of capital to the fintech industry—and existing PeerIQ customer—we see the value of PeerIQ’s real-time credit monitoring and reporting tools both for Macquarie and for our most data-driven clients.”
PeerIQ was founded to bridge the gap between the lenders and the capital markets—a $14 trillion market in the US alone. Aggregating and validating data from numerous sources, PeerIQ combines the data with cash flow analytics, portfolio management tools, reporting services, and independent views on risk so clients can optimize their portfolios and transact with confidence. “Our ambition is to make lending markets more transparent, liquid and data-driven,” said Ahluwalia. “The strategic partnerships announced today go a long way towards realizing our mission.”