CNBC has learned that Fintech Company Pipe is partnering with Uber on a new initiative to gain capital with fewer barriers to access.
Pipe is working with Uber Eats to add embedded technology to the company’s restaurant manager app. Eligible restaurants will display pre-approved capital offers from pipes customized based on business revenue and cash flow.
According to Pipe, new partnerships will be rolled out widely at Uber Eats this week.
Uber Eats Manager App for Restaurants houses thousands of restaurants in the US and serves as a one-stop shop for monitoring and managing your business. The pipe partnership allows restaurants to work with fintech companies to access money directly on the app.
“I think it’s about building something that we want to help these small businesses succeed, building something that works to do that and building something seamless and embedded so that our customers don’t realize that someone else is involved,” Pipe CEO Luke Voyles told CNBC.
According to Fintech companies, the capital process does not include credit checks, FICO scores, personal guarantees, or standard procedures used by major banks.
“The number one problem with small businesses is access to capital, which is even more sharp in restaurant spaces,” Boyles said.
With a $2 billion valuation, Pipe uses artificial intelligence to determine capital amounts based on six months of anonymous credit card transaction history shared by Uber. Next, within the Uber Eats Manager app, restaurants can choose to share their data with Pipe, submit applications, and move forward in the capital.
Since Pipe only has access to anonymous historical performance data from Uber Eats restaurants, the offer is based solely on these performance metrics, Karl Hebert, vice president of Uber’s Global Commerce and Financial Services, told CNBC.
Hebert said the company has specifically chosen pipes for processes designed for small and medium-sized businesses.
“Uber is focused on helping restaurant partners succeed with Uber Eats,” he said. “This is an opportunity to meet restaurant partners, especially those who use the Uber Eats Manager Dashboard.
Voiles said 98% of pipe applications are approved and money hits your account, usually within 24 hours. With people with fewer access barriers, the company sees 12% of companies growing per month, he added.
“This is how restaurant owners who may be immigrants without a FICO score can actually help them access capital for the first time, open a second location and double their business,” Voiles said.
The pipe is also set up separately from term loans with fixed monthly payments. Instead, Pipe’s small business capital is flexible in the revenue stream of the business, Voiles said. So, even if the restaurant’s revenue drops, restaurant owners can spend time paying it back.
It’s not the first time Uber has worked to provide capital to restaurants. In 2022, the company partnered with Visa to provide a $1 million grant to small businesses on the Uber Eats platform that have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, natural disasters and other unexpected events.
