The Montreal based Thinking Capital, one Canada’s leading digital lender to small businesses, has acquired Ario, a leading-edge finance-as-a-service technology platform.
Thinking Capital said the deal will mean that it can better support Canadian small businesses through its recovery and renewed growth from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Stéphane Marceau, CEO of Thinking Capital, said: “In an economy that became substantially more digital over the last months, the Ario transaction will allow us to build on a cutting-edge cloud-based financial platform, designed from the ground up to serve small businesses. As part of the Purpose Financial ecosystem, we have been partners with Ario for several years and we are thrilled to welcome the Ario team comprised of some of the country’s top engineers and developers.”
The Ario platform uses proprietary data and algorithms to offer cost-efficient digital lending and cashflow management solutions for small businesses.
Avinash Chidambaram, co-founder and CEO of Ario, and now Chief Product Officer at Thinking Capital, added: “From our inception in 2017, we assembled a top team to build the next generation of FinTech services with an aim towards helping small business owners manage their cashflow. We are excited to have become one company dedicated to empowering small businesses as they either find their way back to growth after a difficult period or to simply accelerate their continued growth momentum.”
In recent months, Thinking Capital reached the $1 billion mark of funding provided to Canadian small businesses.