Nationwide partners with BlueVine to help business owners get online growth financing

Company continues to provide innovative solutions for member success

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Mar 07, 2019, 12:00 ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Nationwide is taking the next step in a venture capital investment it made last year in online small business lending company BlueVine by expanding its relationship with the company to offer BlueVine's fast and flexible financing to small businesses through Nationwide's Business Solutions Center.

Small businesses can access the company's innovative online lending platform by applying here. The BlueVine platform offers approvals in as fast as 10 minutes.

"Nationwide serves over 1 million small businesses and is No. 1 in customer satisfaction with small commercial insurance^¹. So, we're committed to small business owners and proud of the connections we make with companies like BlueVine to help them move their businesses forward," said Tony Fenton, vice president of Nationwide's Underwriting, Product & New Product Development. "Helping those business owners protect what's most important to them and plan for a secure financial future is at the core of what we do."

According to recent data^², most U.S. small- and medium-sized businesses have less than one month's cash buffer. Cash buffer days are the number of days of cash outflows a business could pay out of its cash balance were its inflows to stop.

And while access to working capital is critical to business growth and stability, small businesses traditionally struggle to get the financing they need. From a 2017 Federal Reserve Bank study^³:

40 percent of employer firms applied for financing in the previous 12 months
75 percent sought less than $250,000
54 percent of applicants failed to get the full amount they needed
24 percent received no funding at all

Business Financing Made Easier
BlueVine's online platform provides business owners with fast and easy access to working capital financing without the hassle of visiting a branch or submitting mountains of paperwork. Completing an application takes minutes, and approvals can be delivered in as little as 10 minutes. The company provides lines of credit up to $250,000 and invoice factoring up to $5,000,000 in funding availability.

"We're thrilled to be working with Nationwide to expand access to financing for small business owners" said Eyal Lifshitz, founder and CEO of BlueVine. "Our platform was designed specifically for business owners who are looking to take their business growth to the next level but need flexible working capital support to get there. By making working capital financing fast, easy and flexible for business owners, we're delivering on our mission – to expand access to capital for small business owners. This mission-driven focus is a strong compliment to Nationwide's stewardship in the small business community."

Online lending powered by BlueVine is just one of several products and resources Nationwide provides a variety of businesses through its Business Solutions Center. For more information on business financing offered through BlueVine, click here.

Nationwide innovation efforts gain momentum
In addition to the relationship with and investment in BlueVine, Nationwide has also announced the following innovation related efforts over the past year:

Nationwide's venture capital team has made 12 investments to date, including Socotra, Betterview, Nexar, blooom, Insurify, Next Insurance, Matic and Sure.
Nationwide plans to open a new innovation center in the Arena District near its Columbus-based headquarters in 2019.
Nationwide is committed to driving innovation that helps members:

Live comfortably in retirement
Meet their insurance and financial needs in novel and digital ways
Protect their data and digital assets
Protect them in the evolving area of mobility

"Nationwide is constantly seeking ways to partner with companies to collaborate and innovate together," said Erik Ross, head of Nationwide's venture capital team. "Careful, well-researched investments in companies like BlueVine enable us to brainstorm, develop and execute a new wave of solutions that drive innovation, establish mutual value and ultimately create success for our members."

About BlueVine

BlueVine provides fast, simple, easy financing to small and medium-sized businesses. BlueVine's online technology-enabled platform offers business owners convenient access to capital to pay for their everyday needs and to grow their business. BlueVine offers fully-online invoice factoring, which allows businesses to get advances on unpaid invoices. BlueVine also offers businesses revolving lines of credit that provide flexible financing on demand. All lines of credit financing are issued by Celtic Bank, a Utah-chartered Industrial Bank, Member FDIC. Based in Redwood City, Calif., BlueVine has provided over $1.5 billion in financing to small businesses and is backed by leading private and institutional investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, 83North, Citi Ventures, Nationwide Insurance, M12 (Microsoft's Venture Arm), Correlation Ventures, Rakuten Fintech Fund and other private investors.

For more information, please visit www.bluevine.com.

About Nationwide
Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poors. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

^¹Nationwide received the highest score in the J.D. Power 2018 Small Commercial Insurance Study of customers' satisfaction with their insurance provider. Visit jdpower.com/awards.

^²JPMorgan Chase Institute Study, September 2016

^³ Federal Reserve Bank, SBCS 2017

Contact:
David Gilligan
(614)677-7305
[email protected]

SOURCE Nationwide