Charlotte commercial lending startup Foro has purchased Bridge, a lending platform for small and medium-sized businesses founded by Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) two years ago.
As part of the deal, Citi became a minority investor in Foro after injecting it with a capital investment to help the fintech scale. Both the acquisition price and capital amount were undisclosed.
Foro named Bridge co-founder Rohit Mathur as its new CEO, replacing Dave Godsman. Bridge's other co-founder, Harte Thompson, is taking on the role of Foro's new chief operating officer. Tasnim Ghiawadwala, global head of Citi's commercial bank, will join Foro's board of directors.
Bridge, launched by Citi in 2021, provides small and medium-sized businesses with access to capital by connecting them with more than 75 lenders across the nation. The digital platform also offers lenders the ability to diversify their businesses and expand their client base.
Foro plans to use the new investment from Citi to expand Bridge's lending services for small and medium-sized businesses as well as local and regional banks, community banks, community development financial institutions and non-traditional lenders.
As minority investor, Citi plans to continue to provide support for the platform in ways such as granting Bridge ongoing access to its diverse lender portfolio.
Mathur said Bridge was created to streamline the lending process for borrowers and lenders. With Foro, he said the platform will continue to expand and provide new solutions for customers' lending needs.
"Our goal is to democratize access to capital for SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses) by providing a digital tool to connect with a range of lenders, while offering lenders a more efficient prospecting process and a way to expand their reach without having to build their own infrastructure," Mathur said.
Earlier this year, he told CBJ the startup was looking to hire a new CEO. That prompted Dave Vorhoff, Foro's chairman, to reach out to Citi, leading to the deal.
Foro, founded in 2019, has a mission similar to Bridge. It provides businesses with equitable access to capital by connecting them with a financial institution that meets their specific needs. It launched its digital commercial lending platform nationwide in January after raising $8 million in Series A funding. That was followed by an additional $4 million raise in March.
The company has various backers, including local leaders such as Hugh McColl Jr., former CEO and chairman of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). Other new and recurring investors include TTV Capital, Fin Capital, Correlation Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Gaingels, Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), B3 Capital, Knoll Ventures and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB).
Bridge was founded by commercial bankers at Citi, with support from the New York-based company's institutional clients group.
“The firm’s continued investment in Foro signals our confidence in the platform, and we are excited to see its impact continue to grow," said Emily Turner, head of business development for Citi’s institutional clients group.
