Fair Square Financial Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors

Fair Square Financial was acquired by Ally Financial for $750M in October 2021.

Fair Square Financial acquisition price

$750M

Acquired by Ally Financial · Oct 2021

Cumulative funding Fair Square Financial raised

$100M

across 1 funding round

Key investors in Fair Square Financial

  • Pine Brook Partners
  • The Orogen Group

Fair Square Financial Overview

About Fair Square Financial

Fair Square Financial is a New York City-headquartered fintech company that issues the Ollo Rewards Mastercard credit card. The firm utilizes machine learning algorithms and alternative data sources including utility payments and rental history to assess creditworthiness at the individual level. This approach targets consumers with fair credit scores underserved by traditional issuers. Ollo cards offer cash back on everyday purchases, no annual fee, and APRs starting from competitive rates. The company partners with WebBank for banking services and operates primarily in the United States.


Founded

2016

HQ

United StatesWilmington, DE

Status

Acquired

Customer focus

B2C

Revenue model

Product sales

Valuation

$750M (acquired Oct 2021)

Fair Square Financial Acquisition

Fair Square Financial was acquired by Ally Financial for $750M on 21 October 2021.

Before the acquisition Fair Square Financial had raised $100M across 1 funding round.

Fair Square Financial was a digital-first credit card company founded in 2016 that operated a scalable, technology-driven credit card platform. At the time of acquisition, Fair Square had approximately 658,000–693,000 cardholders and $763–$816 million in loan balances, with historical growth rates of 66% for customers and 74% for loan balances on a compound annual basis. The company maintained high customer satisfaction above 90% and a Net Promoter Score in the mid-50s, with a fully digital application process and digital-native approach aligned with Ally's strategic direction. Ally Financial, a bank holding company with $179 billion in assets, acquired Fair Square Financial for $750 million in an all-cash transaction. The deal was announced on October 21, 2021, and closed on December 1, 2021. Ally's Board unanimously approved the transaction, which was expected to consume approximately 50–55 basis points of CET1 capital (representing about 25% of Ally's excess capital above its internal target) and was not expected to impact the company's $2 billion share repurchase authorization. The acquisition advanced Ally's strategy to become a leading full-service digital bank and diversify its revenue streams by entering the credit card market. Fair Square's digital-first platform, proprietary analytics-based underwriting, and customer-centric culture complemented Ally's positioning, and the deal was projected to be accretive to earnings and EPS beginning in 2023, with core Return on Tangible Common Equity improvements of 100–125 basis points in 2022–2023 and greater than 150 basis points over the medium term. The transaction also helped Ally offset overdraft-fee income that was permanently eliminated in June 2021, while providing cross-selling opportunities across both customer bases.

Fair Square Financial acquisition details
AcquirerDateTypePrice
21 Oct 2021Strategic M&A$750M

Fair Square Financial Funding History

Fair Square Financial has raised a total of $100M across 1 funding round.

Fair Square Financial funding rounds

Fair Square Financial funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedDeal Summary
May 2018Undisclosed stageThe Orogen Group (lead); Pine Brook Partners$100MFair Square Financial, a financial services company focused on small and medium-sized business (SMB) lending, received a $100 million growth equity investment from The Orogen Group in May 2018, with prior backing from Pine Brook Partners. The Orogen Group acted as the lead investor in this round, which is part of the company's total funding of $100M across multiple rounds as reported in aggregated data. Fair Square operates as a holding company for brands like National Funding, QuickBridge, SmallBusinessLoans, and Finova Capital, providing funding solutions such as asset-backed securitizations and future revenue sale agreements to SMBs. Around 2018, National Funding, a key brand under Fair Square, closed its first asset-backed securitization to enhance product scalability. The company has facilitated over $6B in funding to SMBs across industries under founder and CEO Dave Gilbert's leadership. Investors including The Orogen Group (Private Equity, New York) and Pine Brook (Private Equity, New York) participated in early rounds, with later involvement from Ally Financial in an acquisition on October 21, 2021. The company continued expanding post-2018 with acquisitions and new products amid an evolving SMB lending market.

Who has invested in Fair Square Financial?

2 investors have backed Fair Square Financial across its funding rounds, including Pine Brook Partners and The Orogen Group.

Lead investors include The Orogen Group.


Fair Square Financial Investors

Investors in Fair Square Financial by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check

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Fair Square Financial Competitors

Fair Square Financial competitors include listed companies like Bain Capital Specialty, PRA Group, PennantPark Floating Rate and Heartland Group, and private ones like TVS Credit Services and Ozon.

Public and private companies comparable to Fair Square Financial
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
Bain Capital SpecialtyUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$250M-$733M8.3x
PRA GroupUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$1.2B($128M)$774M3.4x
PennantPark Floating RateUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$221M-$716M8.2x
TVS Credit ServicesIndiaChennaiPrivate--$812M-
OzonRussiaMoscowPrivate$118M-$815M-
Heartland GroupNew ZealandNew ZealandPublicly listed$187M$36M$673M3.6x

Fair Square Financial Public Comps

Fair Square Financial is no longer listed, but its public comps include Bain Capital Specialty, PRA Group, PennantPark Floating Rate, Heartland Group, BFF Bank, Credit Corp, Velocity Financial, Kayne Anderson BDC, Nuveen Churchill Direct and Grenke.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Bain Capital Specialty$250M-8.5x8.3x--
PRA Group$1.2B($128M)3.6x3.4x(34.1x)10.8x
PennantPark Floating Rate$221M-9.9x8.2x--
Heartland Group$187M$36M4.3x3.6x22.4x-
BFF Bank$436M-2.5x2.4x--
Credit Corp$416M$140M2.3x2.3x6.9x6.8x
Velocity Financial$312M-22.8x23.9x--
Kayne Anderson BDC$214M-9.7x9.0x--

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Common questions about Fair Square Financial

When was Fair Square Financial founded?Fair Square Financial was founded in 2016.
Where is Fair Square Financial headquartered?Fair Square Financial is headquartered in Wilmington, DE, United States.
Is Fair Square Financial publicly listed?No, Fair Square Financial was acquired by Ally Financial in October 2021.
Who acquired Fair Square Financial?Fair Square Financial was acquired by Ally Financial in October 2021.
How much was Fair Square Financial acquired for?Fair Square Financial was acquired for $750M in October 2021.
How much funding has Fair Square Financial raised?Fair Square Financial has raised $100M across 1 funding round.
What was Fair Square Financial's last funding round?Fair Square Financial's last funding round was a $100M undisclosed-stage round in May 2018, led by The Orogen Group.
Who are Fair Square Financial's investors?Fair Square Financial's investors include The Orogen Group and Pine Brook Partners.
Which companies are comparable to Fair Square Financial?Companies comparable to Fair Square Financial include Bain Capital Specialty, PRA Group, PennantPark Floating Rate, TVS Credit Services, Ozon and Heartland Group.

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