SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SmartBiz Loans, the #1 SBA loan marketplace and bank-enabling technology platform, today announced the launch of SmartBiz Advisor1, the first, AI-driven, online education tool that makes the financial insights and analysis provided by a typical CFO available to small businesses at no cost.
“The power of AI and machine learning is transformative in every industry and this is the first online tool that brings that power to small business owners,” said Evan Singer, CEO of SmartBiz Loans. “For the first time ever, small business owners have easy access to the type of financial advice that CFO’s regularly provide large companies, enabling them to make better business decisions and get access to the low- cost funds they deserve.”
SmartBiz Advisor is an intelligent online platform that allows small business owners to easily and quickly learn how banks typically evaluate their business on key criteria before applying for a loan. Business owners simply sign up for Advisor at no cost and upload their most recent tax returns. The platform then generates their Loan Ready Score™ in only a few seconds. The Loan Ready Score is used to help assess the probability of approval for a low-cost SBA or bank loan. The platform also generates a series of customized insights about what business owners can do to improve their standing on key financial criteria and calculations used by banks. Small business owners can return to their SmartBiz Advisor dashboard again and again to benchmark progress against their financial goals over time.
Features of SmartBiz Advisor include:
- Loan Ready Score: This proprietary score draws upon comparative data sets to show a business owner where they stand financially in relation to their peer group of businesses. This helps small business owners understand how a bank views them in comparison to similar businesses when applying for financial products like term loans or business lines of credit.
- Key Evaluation Criteria: By revealing key factors banks use to evaluate small businesses’ creditworthiness and loan readiness, SmartBiz Advisor helps small businesses make specific choices that can make them more likely to get approved for loans. This is the first time these key criteria are actually revealed to small businesses, making the “black box” of the lending process significantly more transparent.
- Actionable Insights: Small business owners also receive personalized recommendations so they can improve their standing on key criteria as appropriate, and present their business in the best light when applying for low-cost funding like an SBA loan. SmartBiz also has an experienced team of Advisor Consultants to help small business owners understand their recommendations if needed.
These powerful, AI tools empower small business owners with data, enabling them to make more intelligent and well-informed financial decisions for their businesses.
SmartBiz Advisor is the first of its kind in a category of tools that SmartBiz Loans calls the “Intelligent CFO™.” By combining proprietary machine learning and AI tactics with the white-glove concierge service provided by SmartBiz’s team of Advisor Consultants, SmartBiz Loans is enabling small business owners across the U.S. to take advantage of the power of AI and high-level financial analysis at no cost.
“Just as financially savvy consumers regularly check their personal credit scores, savvy small business owners should regularly check their SmartBiz Advisor dashboard to mark their progress against financial goals and use those insights to make better business decisions,” continued Singer.
ABOUT SMARTBIZ LOANS
SmartBiz Loans is a unique combination of an online SBA loan marketplace and a bank enabling technology platform. The company's online software provides the SBA preferred lenders that utilize SmartBiz customized and automated origination, underwriting and documentation assistance, making approval and funding fast and easy for small business owners.
SmartBiz Advisor is the first, AI-driven online education tool to make financial insights and analysis provided by a typical CFO available to small businesses at no cost. With SmartBiz Advisor, small business owners can learn whether their small business is likely to be approved for a low-cost SBA loan before they apply and monitor the financial health of their business over time.
SmartBiz Loans is based in San Francisco and was founded in 2009 by a team of experienced financial services entrepreneurs with backing from leading venture capital firms including Venrock, Investor Growth Capital, First Round Capital, Baseline Ventures, and SoftTech VC. Learn more at www.smartbizloans.com.
1 The information provided through SmartBiz Advisor, including the Loan Ready Score, is for educational purposes only and is not the same as scores used by lenders for credit decisions. SmartBiz Advisor is not a financial or legal advisor as defined under federal or state law.
