Octane Recognized in Hired’s “2021 List of Top Employers Winning Tech Talent”

by Frank Barletta

December 15, 2021

Hired’s report highlights top companies successfully attracting and retaining tech talent due to leading equitable, efficient, and transparent hiring processes.

New York, Dec. 15, 2021 — Octane™ (Octane Lending Inc.®), the fintech revolutionizing the buying experience for major recreational purchases, was recognized in Hired’s “2021 List of Top Employers Winning Tech Talent” for its results in driving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) throughout the hiring process. The report, released by Hired, the leading AI-driven hiring marketplace that matches tech and sales talent with top companies, lists the top 10 small, medium, and large companies winning tech talent in the U.S. and U.K. respectively.

Based on data from thousands of connections occurring daily between recruiters and candidates on Hired’s marketplace, the company evaluated employers against three core, value-driven pillars – equity, efficiency, and transparency – essential to a successful employer brand, especially in today’s candidate-driven and competitive hiring market. For each pillar, Hired collected and analyzed specific criteria and metrics based on its proprietary marketplace data between October 1, 2020 and October 31, 2021.

Hired recognized Octane as a top employer in successfully hiring tech talent due to how well the company approached the three core pillars throughout its hiring process. Octane currently has technology job openings which can be found on Octane’s careers page.

About Octane

Octane™ offers access to instant financing to fuel your lifestyle. Octane dramatically simplifies and accelerates the transaction process for major recreational purchases such as motorcycles, ATVs, and zero-turn lawn mowers by adding value at each stage of the buying journey. Octane offers automated underwriting, innovative credit products, and financing, through its in-house lender Roadrunner Financial, Inc.®. Octane reaches millions of enthusiasts through its editorial brands like Cycle World and UTV Driver and helps consumers buy their favorite products by pre-qualifying them on dealer and OEM websites. Octane is revolutionizing lending in underserved verticals within markets that account for tens of billions of dollars in annual transactions.

Octane is a remote-first fintech company with offices in NYC and Dallas and over 400 employees. In August 2021, Octane announced it raised $52 million in Series D funding bringing the company’s valuation to over $900 million with more than $192 million in total equity funding raised to date. Visit www.octane.co.

About Hired

Hired is the largest AI-driven marketplace matching tech and sales talent with the world’s most innovative companies. Backed by the world’s leading talent advisory and solutions company, The Adecco Group, Hired combines intelligent job matching with unbiased career counseling to help people find a job they love and reach their full potential. By providing accurate, real-time information, access to equal opportunity, efficiency, and transparency, the Hired platform serves as the backbone for hiring managers, recruiters, and C-level executives to surface the best matching talent and build ambitious, diverse teams.

Hired is committed to building equity in the hiring process through a more representative talent pool, using diversity goals, customized assessments, and salary bias alerts to help remove unconscious bias when hiring. For more information, visit hired.com.

Gravitate PR for Hired: hired@gravitatepr.com

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Octane Teams Up with Polaris to Drive Digital, Instant Financing for Powersports Enthusiasts

by Frank Barletta

December 14, 2021

Multi-year Partnership Delivers Superior, Seamless Experience for Polaris Consumers and Dealers.

NEW YORK, December 14, 2021 — Octane™ (Octane Lending Inc.®), the fintech revolutionizing the buying experience for major recreational purchases, today announced a multi-year partnership with Polaris Inc. (NYSE: PII), a global leader in powersports, to provide customers with a seamless, digital process for financing powersports purchases. Through the partnership, which is effective January 1, 2022, Polaris customers and dealers can take advantage of Octane’s fast and easy digital lending experience to finance Polaris Sportsman, RANGER, RZR, & GENERAL off-road vehicles, Polaris snowmobiles, Indian Motorcycle, and Slingshot vehicles.

“Outdoor recreation is a growing interest with consumers,” said Bob Mack, Polaris CFO. “We’re thrilled to team-up with Octane to leverage their innovative digital financing solution to provide a better lending experience for our customers and dealers and help even more people discover the joy of being outdoors.”

“It’s a privilege to partner with Polaris, a market leader in powersports, to provide an unrivaled finance experience for their extensive dealer network and loyal customer base,” said Jason Guss, CEO of Octane. “Adding Polaris to our strong network of existing OEM partners will help us deliver on our mission to connect people with their passions as we transform the buying journey for major recreational purchases.”

Octane’s customer-centric digital loan origination system is dramatically improving the buying process in the powersports industry because it makes loan applications, approvals, and documentation instantaneous. Polaris dealers will benefit from Octane’s digital tools, including its soft-pull credit product, Safe Rate™, and its fast, easy lending process, which allow dealers to close deals in under five minutes.

Through its in-house lender Roadrunner Financial, Inc.®, Octane provides full-spectrum credit coverage for prime, first-time, and credit-worthy customers just outside the traditional “prime” range, enabling even more powersports enthusiasts to purchase a Polaris vehicle. Coverage can include guaranteed back-end to allow customers to finance related products like gap insurance, extended service contracts, and parts and labor. As a result of this partnership, Polaris dealers will also enjoy competitive rates and flexible terms for their customers.

With the rising interest in outdoor recreation, Octane continues to gain market share, a testament to its superior financing experience, customer centricity, and innovation.

About Octane:

About Polaris:

As the global leader in powersports, Polaris Inc. (NYSE: PII) pioneers product breakthroughs and enriching experiences and services that have invited people to discover the joy of being outdoors since our founding in 1954. With annual 2020 sales of $7.0 billion, Polaris’ high-quality product line-up includes the Polaris RANGER, RZR and GENERAL side-by-side off-road vehicles; Sportsman all-terrain off-road vehicles; Indian Motorcycle mid-size and heavyweight motorcycles; Slingshot moto-roadsters; snowmobiles; and deck, cruiser and pontoon boats, including industry-leading Bennington pontoons. Polaris enhances the riding experience with parts, garments and accessories, along with a growing aftermarket portfolio, including Transamerican Auto Parts. Polaris’ presence in adjacent markets includes military and commercial off-road vehicles, quadricycles, and electric vehicles. Proudly headquartered in Minnesota, Polaris serves more than 100 countries across the globe. www.polaris.com.

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BRP Taps Octane to Power Instant Financing for 2022 Sea-Doo Switch

by Frank Barletta

November 18, 2021

Partnership to Enable Seamless Buying Experience for Consumers and Dealers, Marks Move Into Pontoon Market for Octane

NEW YORK, November 18, 2021 — Octane™ (Octane Lending Inc.®), the fintech revolutionizing the buying experience for major recreational purchases, today announced it will strengthen its partnership with BRP Inc. (TSX: DOO) (NASDAQ: DOOO), global leader in powersports vehicles, propulsion systems and boats, to provide customers and dealers with a seamless, digital experience for financing the new 2022 Sea-Doo Switch pontoon.

This partnership marks Octane’s first foray into new markets following its recent Series D funding round. By entering the pontoon space, Octane is expanding beyond traditional powersports vehicles and mowers in its quest to bring its seamless, digital retail experience to other underserved markets.

Through Octane’s expanded partnership with BRP, customers can prequalify for financing for the Sea-Doo Switch directly on BRP’s websites. Since Octane’s automated solution uses a soft credit pull, Sea-Doo customers can realize their purchasing power through instant, competitive lending offers without any impact to their credit scores all within the digital shopping experience. Octane’s finance solution via Roadrunner Financial, its in-house lender, is available to a full spectrum of creditworthy customers, including prime customers, first time buyers, and customers outside the traditional “prime” range, making passion purchases such as the Sea-Doo Switch attainable for more customers than other national lenders. Additionally, Octane’s digital financing platform enables customers to upload documentation to complete their purchase online, making the process of securing a loan faster and easier.

Sea-Doo Switch dealers will also benefit from the speed and ease of Octane’s lending platform, which can help them close deals in under five minutes. As a result of this partnership, Switch dealers can also take advantage of strong prime rates, competitive promotions and a superior financing experience.

“We’re excited to strengthen our longstanding relationship with BRP to provide instant financing to fuel our customers’ lifestyles and deliver a seamless buying experience for the Sea-Doo Switch,” said Jason Guss, CEO of Octane. “Our expansion into the pontoon market is the beginning of Octane’s next phase of growth as we continue to deliver on our mission to connect consumers with their passions.”

BRP and Octane began their partnership in 2017 with powersports vehicles. Their collaboration brings digital retail to life by enabling consumers to prequalify for financing on BRP websites, which brings web visitors into the transaction flow and sends more qualified leads to dealers.

Press

Octane Completes $340 Million Asset-Backed Securitization to Drive Continued Growth

by Frank Barletta

November 10, 2021

New Milestone with Company’s Largest AA-rated Issuance To-Date; Sustained Momentum with 2nd Securitization of 2021

NEW YORK, November 10, 2021 – Octane™ (Octane Lending Inc.®), the fintech revolutionizing the buying experience for major recreational purchases, today announced that it has closed a $340 million securitization (“OCTL 2021-2”) collateralized by its fixed-rate installment powersports loans. This successful transaction marks Octane’s second securitization of 2021 and fourth since launching the program in December 2019.

OCTL 2021-2 issued three classes of fixed-rate notes: Class A, Class B, and Class C, all of which Standard & Poor’s (S&P)* and Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA)** rated as AA/AA, A/A, and BBB/BBB+ respectively in a private offering pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. This was Octane’s largest asset-backed securitization transaction to date. J.P. Morgan acted as lead bookrunner and structuring agent, with Credit Suisse and Truist Securities as joint bookrunners.

“The AA rating and high demand for our securitizations are a testament to the strong performance of our loans and the success of our business model,” said Steven Fernald, Chief Financial Officer at Octane. “We are grateful for the diverse mix of, and continued participation by, our institutional investor partners who have given us even more flexibility to support our rapid growth and expansion into new verticals.”

In August 2021, Octane announced it raised $52 million in Series D funding bringing the company’s valuation to over $900 million with more than $192 million in total equity funding raised to date.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

*The full analysis for S&P’s ratings, including any updates, which you should review and understand, is available on standardandpoors.com and can be accessed here.

**KBRA’s ratings are subject to all of the terms and conditions set forth in the related report and KBRA’s website, which you should review and understand, and can be accessed here.

Our website is for informational purposes only. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of information on or available through this website, and we are not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in that information or for actions taken in reliance on that information. Please read any applicable disclosures before using or relying on information on or available through this website. Seek professional advice before investing in our securities.

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Octane Raises $52M In Series D Funding, Brings Valuation to Over $900M

by Frank Barletta

August 5, 2021

NEW YORK, Aug. 5, 2021 — Octane™ (Octane Lending Inc.®), the industry leader in digital products supporting consumers, dealerships, and OEMs throughout the buying journey for major recreational purchases, today announced it has raised $52 million in Series D funding. Progressive Investment Company, Inc., a member of the Progressive Insurance ® group, led the round, with participation from existing investors Valar Ventures, Upper90, Contour Venture Partners, Citi Ventures, Third Prime and Parkwood as well as new investors Gaingels and ALIVE. This brings the company’s valuation to over $900 million with over $192 million in total equity funding raised to date.

The new round of financing will further Octane’s mission to connect people with their passion. Octane is the only fintech in its verticals that enables transactions from start to finish, including editorial content, consumer prequalification tools, instant full-spectrum financing and digital deal closing. Octane is growing quickly because it makes purchases faster and simpler for consumers and dealers. The new capital will be used to scale Octane’s buying solution for consumers shopping for powersports vehicles online, grow its family of 3,800 dealership partners and 40 OEM and brand partners—which include BRP, Suzuki, and Triumph Motorcycles—and expand to adjacent markets.

“We’re thrilled to embark on the next phase of growth backed by Progressive Insurance and our existing partners, who wholeheartedly believe in our mission of connecting people with their passion,” said CEO Jason Guss. “We are winning in the market because we offer a faster lending experience that also covers more consumers than competitors, and we engage shoppers earlier in the process to streamline transactions.”

Octane makes major recreational purchases seamless by adding value at each stage in the buying journey. Octane does this by inspiring and informing enthusiasts through media brands such as Cycle World and UTV Driver, acquired in 2020 along with five other titles, prequalifying consumers instantly on dealer and OEM websites and helping consumers find a dealership for a simple closing experience. Partnerships with select OEMs enable Octane to offer loans with promotional rates through its in-house lender, Roadrunner Financial.

“We’re excited for the opportunity to invest in Octane,” said Andrew Quigg, Chief Strategy Officer at Progressive Insurance. “Technology and consumers’ needs continue to evolve and Octane’s point-of-sale loan origination platform provides benefits to consumers and dealerships in a specialty segment of the lending market. We like to partner with innovative, forward-thinking companies and believe that our investment in Octane aligns very well with this strategy.”

When embedded on partnered dealership and OEM websites, Octane’s prequalification product has a customer Net Promoter Score of 90 and has increased conversion rates by as much as 7X. Meanwhile, Octane’s point-of-sale offerings enable finance managers at dealerships to close installment loans in as few as five minutes. Octane expects to originate over $1 billion in the next 12 months, has doubled revenue annually for three years, and is net-income and cash-flow positive.

Press

Octane Acquires the Motorcycle Group from Bonnier Corp.

by Frank Barletta

September 14, 2020

Media Brands include Cycle World, Motorcyclist, Dirt Rider, Motorcycle Cruiser, UTV Driver, ATV Rider, and Cycle Volta.

Octane is investing in these titles so powersports enthusiasts continue to have strong, independent online editorial coverage to fuel their passions.
Inspiring and informing those who are interested in powersports products will drive industry growth.
Combining these brands with Octane’s frictionless financing experience will help more consumers discover and connect with the vehicles of their dreams.

NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Octane™ (Octane Lending Inc.®), a Fintech company founded in 2014 to better serve the lending needs of the powersports market, today announced it has acquired the digital assets of Cycle World, Motorcyclist, Dirt Rider, Motorcycle Cruiser, UTV Driver, ATV Rider, and Cycle Volta from Bonnier Corp.

“We are acquiring these titles because we want to support brands that get people excited about powersports,” said Jason Guss, CEO of Octane. “Our goal for this acquisition is to ensure that unbiased product reviews, rigorous and objective testing, and informed storytelling will continue to be available to powersports enthusiasts. When combined with Octane’s financing platform and dealership partners, consumers will soon be able to go directly from researching their dream vehicle to owning it, in a fast, seamless process.”

“Since acquiring Cycle World in 2011, Bonnier has invested in best-in-class motorcycle content across all media channels, and it is gratifying to see that Octane recognizes and values the consumer trust that these brands enjoy,” said David Ritchie, CEO, Bonnier Corp. “We are encouraged by their commitment to content and look forward to seeing these brands continue to grow.”

Bonnier Corp. will help produce Cycle World‘s final print issue in October 2020; existing print subscribers will receive a digital edition beginning in 2021.

Among the growing brands being acquired, 58-year-old Cycle World reaches more people now than ever. The brand engages more than 1 million consumers monthly, with more than 90 percent of those interactions occurring online. Octane will invest in digital content and website development to further solidify Cycle World’s dominance in this space. Octane looks forward to welcoming Mark Hoyer, VP, Editorial Director of the brands, and his exceptional editorial team.

Octane’s mission is to connect people with their passions. The powersports market (motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs, PWCs, snowmobiles) is fast and fun, but too many consumers find the financing experience that powers the majority of purchases to be slow and frustrating. Octane believes that buying a powersports vehicle should be as satisfying as owning one. In order to deliver instant financing offers, Octane developed an automated technology platform that offers prequalification for customers.

About Octane:
Octane is a Fintech company whose mission is to connect people with their passions. With a focus on the powersports market, Octane reaches riders through editorial brands such as Cycle World and UTV Driver, and helps consumers buy their favorite vehicles with instant, frictionless financing. On Octane.co, powersports shoppers can research vehicles, prequalify for a loan, and instantly check rates with no obligation and no impact to their credit. Octane connects customers with partnered dealerships, where they can complete their purchase with financing. Octane works with more than 3,500 dealers in the USA, provides financing coverage for most major powersports makes, and offers promotional financing with low rates for more than 40 brands.

About Bonnier Corp.:
Bonnier Corp. is an American enthusiast media publishing group, which includes more than 15 multichannel brands extending into all platforms, including magazines, digital media, events and product licensing. Bonnier Corp.’s iconic brands include Popular Science, Saveur, Field & Stream, Yachting, Flying, Sailing World, Salt Water Sportsman, Working Mother and Outdoor Life. Other business subsidiaries include Bonnier Events, a full-service promotion and events group, and Working Mother Media’s diversity and inclusion consulting group. Bonnier Corp. is owned by Sweden-based Bonnier AB, a globally operating media conglomerate.

Brands and Websites Acquired by Octane:

Cycle World — https://www.cycleworld.com/
Motorcyclist — https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/
Dirt Rider — https://www.dirtrider.com/
Motorcycle Cruiser — https://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/
UTV Driver — https://www.utvdriver.com/
ATV Rider — https://www.atvrider.com/
Cycle Volta — https://www.cyclevolta.com/

Octane Recognized in Hired’s “2021 List of Top Employers Winning Tech Talent”

Octane Teams Up with Polaris to Drive Digital, Instant Financing for Powersports Enthusiasts

Multi-year Partnership Delivers Superior, Seamless Experience for Polaris Consumers and Dealers.

BRP Taps Octane to Power Instant Financing for 2022 Sea-Doo Switch

Octane Completes $340 Million Asset-Backed Securitization to Drive Continued Growth

New Milestone with Company’s Largest AA-rated Issuance To-Date; Sustained Momentum with 2nd Securitization of 2021

Octane Raises $52M In Series D Funding, Brings Valuation to Over $900M

Octane Acquires the Motorcycle Group from Bonnier Corp.

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