FinTech News
Debt Collection FinTech January Raises $12 Million
A FinTech focused on changing debt collection practices has closed a new round of funding.
About the round:
January has announced that it’s raised $12 million. The Series B was led by IA Ventures with participation from returning investors Brewer Lane Ventures, Third Prime, and Reciprocal Ventures alongside new investors such as Upper90 and Shrug Capital. This latest funding will help facilitate new product development as well as allow it to expand its market. To date, the company has now raised $22 million following a $10 million Series A last year.
About January:
With a goal of “humanizing debt collection,” January is a FinTech that’s also modernizing the collections process. According to the startup, it uses data-driven personalized borrower outreach and tech-enabled platform to not only help collect debts but also do so in a compassionate way.
Currently, the startup works with a number of banks, credit unions, debt buyers, and fellow FinTechs. January says that its collection services for these firms is 150 times more efficient than traditional methods. Additionally, it notes that its system is the top source of debt recovery for 90% of its clients.
What they’re saying:
In a press release announcing the funding round, January founder and CEO Jake Cahan spoke to the need for the service, stating, “For a long time, we toiled away with the belief that treating consumers in a more compassionate manner would achieve better outcomes for consumers and creditors alike. The desire to create a better system drove our team, while we lacked statistical significance to substantiate our conviction.” Cahan went on to say, “The latest round empowers us to scale a new standard of compassionate collections to tens of millions more. Together with leading financial institutions, we’re not just dreaming of a more empathetic financial ecosystem. We’re actively building it.”
On the other end of the transaction, IA Ventures managing partner Jesse Beyroutey discussed the firm’s investment, saying, “IA is excited to triple-down and lead January’s Series B, bringing a customer-centric collections experience to every borrower in the country and funding the business to profitability. January has proven that industry-leading recovery rates and happy borrowers is not only possible, but reliable at scale, across millions of borrowers served.” Beyroutey concluded, “Legacy collections agencies treat borrowers like criminals, and January has shown that treating borrowers like customers works better. The platform is poised to scale to every creditor in the US and beyond and fix this historically broken relationship.”
My thoughts:
Reading about January, it sounds as though the service is a win-win-win for borrowers, collectors, and the company itself. In turn, it’s understandable that investors would continue to see value in the startup. Assuming that their platform is able to achieve all of the goals the company has, January seems well on its way to making a major impact in the debt collection field.
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