When Jeremy Crane tells people he works in collections, he knows what they’re thinking. “No five-year-old ever said they wanted to be in debt collection when they grow up,” he told Refresh Miami with a laugh. “I think I wanted to be a firefighter or something.”
But what Crane has built is far from the old-school image of collections – no phone call marathons, no intimidation tactics. His company, Retrievables, is a venture-backed tech platform that connects businesses with the best collection agencies and law firms to recover delinquent payments. It’s part marketplace, part automation engine, and fully focused on helping companies get paid faster and more efficiently.
Crane’s path to founding Retrievables wasn’t exactly linear. A self-described “serial entrepreneur,” his first business was a used furniture company he launched in college. Later, he developed an app for stadium and arena parking payments before eventually finding himself working in business development at a collections law firm in New York City.
That job unexpectedly changed everything. “I gained domain expertise and, honestly, a real passion for collections,” said Crane [pictured above]. “It sounds funny, but I realized how critical it is for small and medium-sized businesses to get paid for their work. We’re helping them sustain operations and grow.”
That sense of purpose sparked Retrievables, a tech-driven way to match companies that need help recovering payments with professionals who can do it best. Businesses upload details about their delinquent accounts and are instantly connected to the right agency or law firm through the platform’s network.
“For a business, it’s really challenging to find the right solution,” Crane said. “Retrievables makes that connection almost immediately.”
It’s a win-win model. Companies get their cash flow back on track, while agencies and law firms get new business they might never have reached otherwise. “We’re growing their business, too,” Crane asserted. “Especially in markets that aren’t being serviced as they should be.”
The company operates across the U.S. and occasionally internationally, with a recent case even involving a business in Pakistan. To date, Retrievables has onboarded more than 900 companies, managing around $55 million worth of delinquent accounts. It has also built a client base of about 25 commercial lenders, including some of the largest fintech lenders in the world, and raised $1.1 million in venture funding.
Crane runs a lean team—just two full-time employees—but the model scales efficiently because Retrievables doesn’t actually collect money itself. Instead, it earns a share of the fees paid to its network partners when a recovery is made. “Our cost of operations is really low,” he said. “That’s one of the things that’s so great about the business.”
A year ago, Crane left New York and headed south to Florida. He settled in Delray Beach, drawn by family ties and a slower pace of life. “I rented an apartment for three months just to see if I liked it,” he said. “After a few weeks, I knew this was where I wanted to be.”
He’s since become active in the local tech ecosystem, joining the Gold Coast Accelerator Program and finding community through it. “It’s been great both for the company and for me personally,” he said. “Working from home can be isolating, so it’s been amazing to meet other founders and business people.”
Looking ahead, Crane plans to keep expanding the range of services Retrievables offers. “We’re always adding new partners and technology,” he said. “We just started working with a debt broker so we can now help clients sell portfolios of accounts. The goal is to have a solution for any collections-related need.”
“At the end of the day, we’re helping companies stay in business by getting them the money they’re owed,” Crane added. “That’s what keeps me excited about what we’re building.”
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