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Jared Hecht

Executive

PPP
Type
Person
Role
Executive
Programs
PPP
Updated

Identity and role

Jared Hecht is a New York technology founder. At the time of the March 24, 2020 letter he was Co-Founder and CEO of Fundera, an online marketplace that matched small-business owners with lenders. Since January 2024 he has been a Venture Partner at Union Square Ventures in New York (USV post).

Biography

Hecht first became known for GroupMe, the group-messaging app he co-founded with Steve Martocci at a TechCrunch Disrupt hackathon; Skype agreed to acquire it in August 2011 (TechCrunch).

Hecht co-founded Fundera in 2013 with Andres Moran and Rohan Deshpande (NerdWallet release). Fundera was a marketplace, not a lender: small-business owners filled out one application and Fundera routed them to its network of partner lenders. NerdWallet acquired Fundera in an announcement dated October 30, 2020. Per NerdWallet's S-1 as reported by deBanked , the deal was $29.2 million in cash at closing plus an earn-out of up to $66 million.

Pandemic relief role

Hecht signed the fintech coalition letter (published under OnDeck's banner) to Congress as "Jared Hecht, Co-Founder & CEO, Fundera." The letter, dated March 24, 2020, asked Congress to give the Treasury Department flexibility to push "upwards of $500 billion" to small businesses through "financial institutions, credit unions, online lenders, payroll processors, and other financial services and technology companies." It stated: "We seek no gain from this crisis. Our only aim is to protect the millions of small businesses that we are proud to call our customers."

Fundera ran a PPP application portal that submitted borrowers' applications to SBA partner lenders (Fundera page); it made no loans itself.

Fundera also received PPP support as a borrower: the SBA's loan-level PPP FOIA file (cited; the row is not reproduced here) lists FUNDERA, INC. in New York with a $2,556,945.25 PPP loan approved on April 13, 2020, originated by Silicon Valley Bridge Bank NA and serviced by First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, later forgiven.

No personal enforcement action, civil settlement, debarment, or criminal charge involving Hecht was identified.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

Hecht remains a Venture Partner at Union Square Ventures (USV post).

Sources held in this archive

Original source documents and archived captures

  • Noah Breslow — fellow online-SMB-finance signatory and OnDeck CEO.
  • Brock Blake — Lendio CEO, the other big loan-marketplace founder in the story.

Sources

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