Old Kent Road (OKR) Financial

What Old Kent Road (OKR) Financial does

Old Kent Road (OKR) Financial was a privately held Canadian financial services firm headquartered at Suite 302, 239 10 Ave SE, Calgary, Alberta. The firm positioned itself as a vehicle providing investors and start-ups with opportunities through a new Canadian fund, and its core activity was lending and loan portfolio management within the OKR Group of Companies (the "OKR Entities"). Its disclosed leadership consisted of co-founders R Stewart Thompson and Jason Neale (managing partners), CFO Bill Green, and Bhavik Chauhan as VP of Business Development; headcount was reported in the 11-50 band.

The company operated an investor portal branded Raisr, which is hosted on the third-party Exempt Edge platform rather than proprietary technology. Revenue model, pricing, and product-level economics are not publicly disclosed in the available material. OKR's documented capital history consists of four early-stage angel rounds (2016, 2017, 2019, 2020) involving VA Angels, Keiretsu Forum, and K4 Forum Mumbai Network, with no quantified capital raise figures attached.

As of March 7, 2025, OKR Group of Companies obtained an Initial Order from the Court of King's Bench of Alberta under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), placing the entities in creditor protection. PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. LIT was appointed as Monitor and a stay of proceedings suspended redemptions and payments related to pre-filing goods and services. On June 12, 2025, the Court granted enhanced powers to the Monitor to oversee the wind-down of the OKR Entities loan portfolio and any distribution to trade creditors and investors. The company is therefore no longer in active operation; its current state is a court-supervised wind-down.

Name

Old Kent Road (OKR) Financial

Legal name

OKR Financial

Website

https://okrfinancial.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Old Kent Road (OKR) Financial was a privately held Calgary-based Canadian lender and fund manager that provided financing opportunities to investors and startups through a Canadian fund. The company filed for CCAA creditor protection on March 7, 2025 and is currently undergoing a court-supervised wind-down managed by PwC.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private Lending / Alternative Finance Fund Management

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Other Financial Vehicles (525990)

SIC

Finance Services (6199), Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Credit / Direct Lending (FSAAAHAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Large-Cap / Sponsor Finance Direct Lending (FSANADAJ)

Keywords

• Private lending services
• Loan portfolio management
• Alternative finance fund
• Startup debt financing
• Venture debt investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Calgary

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Core offering

OKR Financial operated a private lending business that raised capital from investors and deployed it as loans to start-ups through a Canadian fund structure (Old Kent Road Capital Fund). The firm managed a loan portfolio on behalf of investors and provided investors an online portal (Raisr) for account access. The company is now under CCAA creditor protection with PwC overseeing the wind-down of the loan portfolio.

Product overview

OKR Financial (Old Kent Road Financial) was a financial services company that operated as part of the OKR Group of Companies. The company was involved in lending and loan portfolio management. As of March 2025, the company entered into CCAA (Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act) proceedings and is currently undergoing a court-supervised wind-down process managed by PwC as the appointed Monitor.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Broad incumbents

• OnDeck (Enova International): Established North American online small business lender offering term loans and lines of credit to SMEs. Comparable to OKR's SME/startup lending proposition, but at much greater scale and as a broad incumbent rather than a niche fund.
• VersaBank: Canadian Schedule I chartered bank offering digital lending, point-of-sale financing, and commercial lending products. Comparable as a broader Canadian non-traditional/lending platform.
• Funding Circle: Global online small business lending platform connecting SME borrowers with institutional and retail investors. Comparable to OKR's fund/investor-to-borrower model, though operating at significantly larger scale.
• Equitable Group: Canadian Schedule I bank (Equitable Bank) focused on residential lending, commercial lending, and deposit-taking. Comparable as a larger incumbent Canadian alternative lender in overlapping loan categories.

Direct peers

• Lendified: Canadian online small business lending platform providing working capital and term loans to SMEs. Directly comparable to OKR in targeting startups and small businesses with non-bank credit products in Canada.
• Firm Capital Corporation: Canadian focused-investment lender operating a private credit/mortgage platform for real estate and SME borrowers. Directly comparable to OKR's profile as a Canadian private lending fund targeting yield-oriented investors and SME/startup borrowers.
• Romspen Investment Corporation: Canadian private mortgage/credit fund that originates and manages a portfolio of higher-yield loans for accredited investors. Directly comparable to OKR's model of pooling investor capital to fund a private loan book in Canada.
• Thinking Capital: Canadian technology-enabled lender focused on small business working capital and term loans. Comparable to OKR as a Canadian SME-focused lender serving small businesses and investors via a managed loan portfolio.
• Timbercreek Financial: Canadian non-bank lender providing custom financing solutions to real estate investors and owners of commercial real estate. Directly comparable as a Canadian private debt fund vehicle serving investors and borrowers via a managed loan portfolio.

Others

• Whitecap Venture Partners: Canadian VC fund investing in early-stage technology companies. Adjacent rather than directly comparable — overlaps with OKR's startup target market but operates an equity-led model rather than direct lending.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/okrfinancial
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/old-kent-road-financial-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Old Kent Road (OKR) Financial