Banana Exchange was founded in 2017 by Mr. Eyal Levy, to try and solve one of the Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) industry's major barriers of growth - access to capital. While several MCA funders do manage to secure capital from hedge funds or different investors, the majority are shut off and this can negatively impact their ability to grow. At Banana Exchange, we believe that any MCA funder that is performing well shouldn't be barred from capital or limited in any way.

Banana Exchange funds by factoring (purchasing) MCA funders’ RTR. As the MCAs have themselves purchased this RTR from different merchants, Banana Exchange is, in essence, re-factoring the RTR. Against this purchase, Banana Exchange advances a certain percentage of the RTR, so the more RTR you have on the books, the more funding you will be eligible to receive.

Banana Exchange is headquartered in New York and backed by a US hedge fund.

Eyal Levy

Founder & CEO

Eyal Levy, the founder of Banana Exchange, was the founder of Platinum Funding Group (PFG) and has 25 years of extensive experience with factoring and commercial finance in the US and UK. PFG, a premier factoring company, was headquartered in New York City with offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, Florida, New Jersey and London. PFG commenced its operations in 1992, but had to cease its operations in the first quarter of 2010 as its bank lenders decided to exit the market of financing cash-flow providers. PFG was the leader of its niche financing distressed customers, with over $250 Million in annual funding.

 

Mr. Levy started his career at Elisra, an Israeli defense contractor that marketed sensitive electronic products to the CIA, FBI, US Air Force and US Special Forces. Currently,

 

Mr. Levy is a mentor in the Harvard Business School entrepreneurship program.

 

Lee Levy Havakuk

President

Lee Levy Havakuk joined Banana Exchange in January 2022.
As President, she manages and coordinates all departments, clients and investors.
Lee was born and raised in New York City and has a Bachelor’s in Media, Culture and Communications from NYU. After working in NY in multiple cosmetics and fashion companies she moved to Israel and joined Gottex Swimwear Brands, one of the largest international swimwear companies. She spent the past 10 years as the Director of International Sales & Marketing at Gottex where she was responsible for over 60 global clients, production and sales budgets and new business development.

Amit Eisenthal

Chief Strategy Officer

Amit is responsible for managing relations with company customers, partners and investors, and for overseeing product design and operations. Amit has vast experience in the Fintech credit industry, previously holding key positions in two startups that innovated credit scoring and digital asset backed credit. Before Fintech, Amit worked as developer and project manager for 6 years at Check Point, a leader in cyber security.

Vladimir Gisser

Chief Technology Officer

Vladimir Gisser, CTO at Banana Exchange, is based in the Banana Exchange Boston office, leading Banana Exchange’s R&D Department. Mr. Gisser has over 15 years of experience in the hi-tech industry, specializing in the architecture of complex systems for enterprise solutions. He is responsible for the organization’s Research & Development efforts in achieving the product vision.

Tal Lea Levy

Marketing Director

Tal Lea Levy, Marketing Director, joined Banana Exchange in 2018 and is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of marketing strategies as well as manages the Banana Exchange Social Media and website activities. Tal has extensive marketing experience and a comprehensive knowledge of branding.

Graeme Maisels

Chief Data Officer

Graeme Maisels joined Banana Exchange in 2020 as Director of Sales and was responsible for sales, onboarding and retention of Banana Exchange customers. Graeme lead sales strategies, managed the sales team and leads business development. He now serves as Chief Data Officer. Graeme has 20 years of financial experience in both banking and fintech companies.

Brian O'Neill

Director of Sales and Operations

Brian oversees both our sales and operations departments. In doing so He is responsible for the onboarding, retention, and servicing of all Banana Exchange customers. As well as, managing relations with company clients, partners and investors. Brian has been around the financial services industry for over 10 years and has held key positions in startups and large scale companies in the Merchant Cash Advance industry.

Bella Levy

Business Development

Dr. Bella Levy, PhD, joined Banana Exchange in 2020. Bella has an extensive background in business development as she worked side-by-side Eyal Levy in running PlatinumArt, a high-end art factoring business, for over 10 years.