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China Rapid Finance Limited (CRF) just won a big award. The award is called Innovation Deal of the Year. It was given at the 2016 International Financial Forum.
What is the Innovation Deal of the Year award?
The International Financial Forum gives this award every year. It looks for deals that use new technology. The award celebrates smart finance ideas. Winners are chosen from many investors and companies. The award helps the winners get more attention.
How China Rapid Finance earned the award
In July 2015, CRF raised money in a Series C round. The round gave the company a pre‑money valuation of US $1 billion. Broadline Capital led the round. Broadline looked at more than 250 investing firms before choosing CRF. The strong partnership helped CRF win the award.
Dr. Zane Wang, the CEO of CRF, said the award shows the power of their technology. He said the support from Broadline and other investors was key. Christopher Thorne, founder and chairman of Broadline Capital, also sits on CRF’s board. He said the award proves CRF is a trend‑setter in China.
CRF uses big data to give loans to people who do not have a credit history. They call this group the Emerging Middle‑class, Mobile Active Consumers (EMMAs). About 500 million Chinese people belong to this group. They have stable jobs but no bank credit record. Because of this, they cannot get loans from traditional banks.
CRF’s technology looks at many kinds of data. It looks at social media, transaction records, app usage and more. The data is both structured and unstructured. CRF’s predictive analytics engine has been improved for over 15 years. It can create a credit score similar to a FICO score for these borrowers.
First, CRF pre‑screens borrowers. Then it uses automated decisioning tools. These tools give an application score, a fraud score and a response score. The scores help decide the loan amount, the term and the interest rate.
Who is Broadline Capital?
Broadline Capital is a global private equity firm. It focuses on growth capital and venture investments. Its main regions are China and North America. The firm looks for companies that use technology to change finance.
Christopher Thorne founded Broadline Capital. He is also the chairman. He serves on the board of CRF. Broadline’s investment helped CRF grow fast. The firm’s reputation helped CRF win the Innovation Deal of the Year award.
What the award means for Chinese borrowers
The award shows that CRF’s model works well. It gives confidence to more people who need loans. Because of the award, more investors may fund CRF. More funding means more loans for the 500 million EMMAs.
CRF’s lower customer acquisition cost helps keep loan prices low. Borrowers can get loans faster. The automated scoring reduces the chance of fraud. This makes the whole system safer for everyone.
Recent news about China Rapid Finance
In May 2017, a news story said that the P2P lender Rapid accepted a lower price to finish its IPO. This shows that the company is ready to go public. It also shows that the market trusts the company’s technology.
In June 2016, Bloomberg reported that Chinese lenders use phone tracking and even personal photos to decide credit scores. CRF also uses phone data as part of its big‑data approach. This helps the company judge a borrower’s reliability.
These recent headlines show that CRF is part of a larger trend. Technology is changing how loans are given in China. The award highlights CRF’s leading role in this change.
FAQ
What is a Series C financing round?
A Series C round is a later stage of fundraising. Companies use it to grow bigger. Investors like Broadline Capital put in large amounts of money.
Why does CRF need a pre‑money valuation?
The pre‑money valuation tells how much the company is worth before new money comes in. For CRF, it was US $1 billion in July 2015.
How does big data help borrowers?
Big data looks at many signals like social media activity, phone usage and transaction history. This helps create a credit score for people who have no bank history.
What does the award mean for future investors?
The award signals that CRF’s technology works well. It can attract more investors who want to support innovative finance.
Conclusion
China Rapid Finance’s partnership with Broadline Capital earned the Innovation Deal of the Year award. The award proves that CRF’s technology can help millions of Chinese borrowers. It also opens doors for more funding and growth. As technology keeps changing finance, CRF is set to keep leading the way for China’s emerging middle class.
