Canadian specialty finance firm TIMIA Capital Corp has provided a $2 million funding facility to Parkbench Inc, a Toronto discovery service for local events, deals, news and real estate. The revenue-based facility includes a first investment of $1 million and a further $1 million to be deployed when milestones are met. Parkbench, launched in 2014 by CEO Grant Findlay-Shirras and CMO Amanda Newman, targets its online service to real estate agents and mortgage brokers. In 2016, the company secured financing from U.S. accelerator and venture capital firm 500 Startups.
PRESS RELEASE
TIMIA Capital Announces $2 Million Investment into Parkbench Inc.
Investment provides growth capital for Parkbench and drives cash flow and income for TIMIA
Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) – TIMIA Capital Corporation (“TIMIA” or the “Company”) (TSX-V:TCA) today announced a $2 million investment facility for Parkbench Inc., of Toronto. The revenue-based financing facility includes a first disbursement of $1,000,000 and a further $1,000,000 to be disbursed upon certain milestones being met over the term of the agreement.
“Parkbench is driving more than 50% revenue growth on their topline, and in the right position to benefit from our revenue finance model,” said Mike Walkinshaw, CEO of TIMIA. “We have an extensive analytics platform and management process to evaluate potential investments, and Parkbench emerged as an exciting company with growth potential in which we’re happy to invest.”
TIMIA has invested in three new deals and successfully exited three previous investments in the last four months. With six current investments under management, TIMIA has $10.4 million committed and is continuously seeking new and exciting investments in the software as a service or SaaS industry.
“We evaluated a number of finance options and TIMIA’s revenue-based finance model makes the most sense,” said Grant Findlay-Shirras, CEO of ParkBench. “We maintain control of the Company versus traditional equity-based lenders and the capital infusion will help us grow our business.”
About ParkBench
Parkbench is a prospecting tool for real estate agents and mortgage brokers. At the most basic level Parkbench produces a neighborhood focused website that provides local information, serving much the same function as the small-town newspaper used to. Parkbench rents these website properties to local service providers, mainly real-estate agents who become the “sponsors”. The sponsors populate the site with content: events, interviews with local businesses owners etc. The sponsors develop prospects through the process of generating content. The theory being that people move on average every 15 years. If the sponsor generates 15 free “advertorials” for local business owners one of them will be thinking about moving. Parkbench presents that opportunity to build a relationship with the potential client.
About TIMIA Capital Corporation
TIMIA Capital Corporation is a specialty finance company that provides revenue financing to technology companies in exchange for a stream of payments based on revenue. The alternative financing option complements both debt and equity financing, while allowing entrepreneurs to retain control of their business. TIMIA’s target market is the fast-growing business-to-business software-as-a-service (SaaS) segment. TIMIA is managed by a seasoned investment team with a track record of originating and managing debt and equity investments, as well as monitoring and compliance.
For more information about TIMIA Capital Corporation, please visit www.timiacapital.com
For more information, please contact:
Darren Seed, Vice President, Capital Markets & Communications TIMIA Capital Corporation
(604) 398-8839/IR@timiacapital.com
Photo courtesy of Parkbench Inc