A technology platform based in Canada that helps consumers “self-cure” their debts has raised $52 million for, among other things, to help the company expand into the United States.
The company, called Symend, says it seeks to replace legacy collection systems with a more robust operation that enables “evidenced-based recommended actions” to work with consumers to find the best path to help them pay off their debts.
A group of investors, including Ignition Partners, Impression Ventures, BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Fund, Mistral Venture Partners, and angel investor Markus Frind contributed to the $52 million that was raised by the company.
“We created Symend to help individuals who have fallen behind on payments and treat them with understanding at a time when they need it most. Our solution transforms how companies think about and interact with at-risk customers,” said Hanif Joshaghani, co-founder and chief executive of Symend, in a published report.
Even though reports say the company helps clients develop “individualized consumer debt remediation programs” and seeks to engage individuals so that they are “more apt to pay in full and to self-treat,” the company’s co-founder made it clear that they don’t want the software to be considered collection software.
“Symend is not collections; we are in the business of helping consumers. Not only are we developing a world-class platform, but I’m proud to say that we are applying the sciences to support our mission of creating positive social change,” said Tiffany Kaminsky, co-founder and chief strategy officer.
The press releases and reports of the capital raise are chock full of buzzwords and jargon like treating “past-due customers in alignment with in-house systems and brand standards” and applying “dynamic customer sub-segmentation across products, advanced behavioral modeling, and iterative optimization” to “create unique treatment strategies that don’t ‘talk at’ customers” but “positively engage them” the company does claim to have worked with more than 10 million consumers across North America since it was launched in 2016. The company plans to have more than 200 employees by the end of this year.
