Fintech One-on-One: Jacob Haar, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Community Investment Management (CIM)

Fintech Nexus

There has been endless talk in fintech over the past year and a half about the pullback from equity investors and how difficult it is to raise money in this environment. Less is being talked about the debt investment landscape.

So, I wanted to bring Jacob Haar, Founder and Managing Partner of Community Investment Management (CIM), back on the show (he was previously a guest in 2015 and 2020). He has been a debt investor in fintech for almost a decade now and he has deep experience with fintech lending not just in the United States but increasingly around the world.

In this podcast you will learn:

• How he describes CIM today.
• How the pandemic played out for them.
• What areas of fintech he finds most interesting today.
• What countries he is focused on.
• Examples of some recent deals CIM has closed.
• The size of the typical debt facilities they provide.
• The factors CIM considers today when making an investment decision.
• Why they decided to move outside small business lending.
• How their investors view impact versus a financial return.
• How the deal between Camino Financial (podcast here) and Fundation (podcast here) came together.
• Jacob's thoughts on transparency in small business lending and the regulatory movement there.
• Some of the key milestones that fintech lending has reached in the past 10 years.
• Why he is optimistic about the next decade.

Connect with Jacob on LinkedIn
Connect with Community Investment Management on LinkedIn

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes