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Fundbox

Lender or loan platform

PPP · PPPLF
Type
Company or group
Role
Lender or loan platform
Programs
PPP, PPPLF
Updated
  • Type: Small-business working-capital fintech; PPP lender of record in its own name.
  • Legal entities: Fundbox, Inc. Ordinary (non-PPP) credit products have been made through bank partners including First Electronic Bank and Lead Bank, or directly by Fundbox.
  • Founded: 2013, San Francisco, by Eyal Shinar.
  • HQ: San Francisco.
  • CEO: Eyal Shinar until July 2, 2020, when Fundbox announced he would become full-time Executive Chairman; Prashant Fuloria, previously COO, was promoted to CEO (Fundbox, "Eyal Shinar Promoted to Executive Chairman; Prashant Fuloria Promoted to CEO").
  • Role in PPP: One of only four March 24, 2020 coalition-letter signers that appear in SBA data as direct PPP lenders of record (with Kabbage, Biz2Credit/Itria, and Funding Circle). Fundbox originated and serviced its PPP book under its own name and pledged loans to the Federal Reserve's PPPLF.

In the archive

Pandemic-role map

  • Reader shorthand: small, clean, 2020-only direct fintech PPP lender.
  • What Fundbox did for borrowers: took PPP applications on its own site (letting existing customers import their Fundbox information), originated and serviced the loans as SBA lender of record.
  • Where responsibility sat: with Fundbox itself — no partner bank held the e-tran number for its PPP book.

Before the pandemic (2013–early 2020)

Fundbox built data-underwritten working-capital lines for small businesses, positioned around B2B invoice and cash-flow data. Eyal Shinar signed the March 24, 2020 fintech coalition letter as Founder & CEO, joining the group that asked Congress to route "upwards of $500 billion" of relief through non-bank and online lenders.

During the pandemic (March 2020 – early 2021)

Customers and vendors

Fundbox's help-center page on COVID-19, last updated May 31, 2020, told borrowers: "Accounts are being reassessed and credit limits adjusted across the board in an effort to allocate our resources in a way that supports as many active customers as we can." The page offered PPP application help, support contacts and a resources directory. It named no fee waiver or payment deferral (How is Fundbox responding to COVID-19?).

Its public campaign pointed at other people's payables. In an open letter posted on the company blog on April 10, 2020 and issued as a press release on April 30, CFO Marten Abrahamsen asked U.S. business and government leaders to join the #paytoday cause (Help Save Small Businesses by Paying Them Today; We Can Help Save Small Businesses Right Now by Paying Their Invoices Today). The release said that "of the $900B owed to small businesses, big enterprise owes more than $500B." Fundbox's own contribution: since the crisis began it had "started paying its small business vendors every week, instead of every two weeks."

Staff and investors

On May 26, 2020, Fundbox announced that MUFG Innovation Partners had tripled its investment in the Series C round, bringing equity funding in the round to "almost $200 million." The release said that "despite a modest increase in losses early in the pandemic, key portfolio health indicators are now back at, or better than, pre-crisis levels." It did not mention layoffs or pay cuts (Fundbox Secures Funding From MUFG Innovation Partners, Delivers Robust Performance During COVID-19).

A week later Geektime reported that Fundbox had "laid off about 15% of their employees" the week before and cut management salaries. Asked by Geektime, Fundbox said that "14 employees lost their jobs, while management salaries were cut" (Even after layoffs & management salary cuts: Fundbox still raises $20M). The same article put headcount at about 200. Fourteen of about 200 is 7 percent.

On July 2, 2020, Fundbox announced that founder Eyal Shinar would become full-time executive chairman and that COO Prashant Fuloria had been promoted to CEO (Fundbox, "Eyal Shinar Promoted to Executive Chairman; Prashant Fuloria Promoted to CEO"). In the company's blog post on the change, Fuloria credited the new chief revenue officer, Abbie McBride, with leading "a very successful initiative to deliver PPP funding to our customers" (Executive Promotions at Fundbox).

A March 25, 2021 release gave Fundbox's headcount as "200+ employees" and said its AI-driven approach had let it "outperform industry peers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, mitigating losses" (Visa and Capital One Alum Cetin Duransoy Joins Fintech Leader Fundbox as Chief Operating Officer).

The PPP book

Fundbox's April 2020 PPP page invited applicants to "sign up to be connected with an SBA-participating partner" (Paycheck Protection Program assistance (April 2020)). By June its application page offered to "pre-populate the application" from a Fundbox account (Paycheck Protection Program Application (June 2020)). In the SBA data the lender of record is Fundbox, Inc. itself: originating and servicing lender on 13,505 loans for $329.4 million, an average of about $24,400, approved between April 29 and August 8, 2020. Of those, 10,968 were approved in June and July, and 12,525 were for $50,000 or less (SBA PPP FOIA loan-level data). Modeled SBA processing fees on that book come to about $14.6 million (Fundbox, Inc. lender page).

The Federal Reserve's PPP Liquidity Facility lent to PPP lenders, "taking the loans as collateral at face value" (Federal Reserve, April 9, 2020 PPPLF announcement). Fundbox drew 93 advances totaling $392.3 million at 0.35 percent between May 15, 2020 and June 30, 2021. Its outstanding balance stood at $335.0 million at the end of September 2020, the highest in the Fed's reports; the SBA data put the whole book at $329.4 million (Federal Reserve, PPPLF transaction-specific disclosures).

By November 2020 Fundbox's help center said it had updated all its PPP loans to SBA's revised terms and "applied these updates to your loan automatically"; borrowers with two-year maturities were offered a five-year option instead (What updates have been made to PPP terms?). By December 30, 2020, its PPP page read: "We are no longer accepting new PPP applications" (Apply for the SBA Paycheck Protection Program (December 2020)). In January 2021 it sent PPP pre-applicants to "our partner, Cross River Bank" (Start your pre-application for PPP funds through our lending partner (January 2021)). The SBA data show no Fundbox-originated loans in 2021.

How the loans ended

Fundbox's forgiveness help page said that although SBA had begun accepting forgiveness applications after 8 weeks, Fundbox had "decided to wait for at least 24 weeks" (What do I need to know about loan forgiveness now that I am in my deferral period?). As of September 2026, its PPP page says it processes forgiveness applications "in partnership with Lendio" (Paycheck Protection Program Application (September 2026)).

In SBA's September 2024 data, 12,426 of the loans are paid in full, 99 have their status withheld under FOIA Exemption 4, and 980, totaling $51.1 million, are charged off. That is 7.3 percent of Fundbox's loans and 15.5 percent of its dollars. Across all 2020 PPP loans the charged-off shares are 2.5 percent by count and 1.3 percent by dollars; for 2020 loans of $150,000 or less they are 2.7 percent and 1.8 percent. The data do not record why a loan was charged off. Recorded forgiveness on the book totals $275.3 million (SBA PPP FOIA loan-level data).

After the pandemic (2021 – present)

No PPP enforcement action against Fundbox has been located: no FTC, DOJ, or SBA action, and no appearance in the House Select Subcommittee's fintech-PPP report.

  • November 2021: a $100 million Series D at a $1.1 billion valuation (TechCrunch).
  • Leadership: Shinar moved from CEO to Executive Chairman and Prashant Fuloria became CEO (company statements, see the Shinar profile).

Sources

In this archive

  • Coalition-letter dossier and signatories register: The 30 Who Signed: A Dossier on the March 24, 2020 Fintech Letter to Congress; signatories.csv
  • Lender tables: lender_agg_consolidated.csv (Fundbox, Inc.: 13,505 / $329.4 million per lender_fees.csv); ppplf_by_lender.csv

Company documents and press coverage, 2020–2021

External references

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