Helping SMBs stay afloat during COVID - Jared Hecht, Co-founder & CEO of Fundera

In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Anchit Gupta (WG’21) is joined by Jared Hecht, Co-founder & CEO of Fundera, an online marketplace that matches SMB to lenders. Fundera is a financial-services marketplace for small businesses, helping connect business owners with the right lenders. Fundera is helping thousands of SMBs right now to help them navigate the chaotic Paycheck Protection Program application process. Since inception, Fundera has facilitated close to 3Bn USD financing for thousands of customers. Back in 2010, Jared also founded GroupMe, a popular group messaging app. GroupMe was a massive success with over 1 Mn users within a year and was eventually acquired by Microsoft and Skype. Prior to GroupMe, Jared worked as an early employee at Tumblr. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Columbia University Entrepreneurship Organization and is an investor and advisor to startups such as Codecademy, SmartThings and TransferWise. In this interview, Jared shares: - His background and journey across 2 very different entrepreneurial ventures - The challenges faced by Small and Medium Businesses to access financing in the United States - The various ways in which Fundera is helping solve these issues and creating a suite of financial service solutions for SMBs - The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Fundera as well his opinion on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) - His experience launching a viral messaging product (GroupMe) during the early days of smart phones - Advice to young entrepreneurs hustling through this crisis