French startup Lendix, which claims to be the number one SME lender in all of continental Europe, has landed €32m in fresh funding.
Idinvest and Allianz led the round, with CIR SpA (De Benedetti’s holding firm) also participating. Existing investors Partech, CNP Assurances, Decaux Frères Investissements and Matmut also participated in the fundraise.
The new capital comes just five months after Lendix received €200m in a debt financing round to help support over 600 SMEs.
Paris-based Lendix helps SMEs to directly borrow from individual and institutional investors and without the need of collateral or insurance. Borrowers can select the companies they wish to back and receive monthly repayments on all their commitments. Annual interest rates on the platform range between 2.5 per cent and 9.9 per cent.
With the fundraise the company plans to transform the way businesses fund and grow through technology, with capital being set aside for recruiting employees, acquiring a business or a competitor and expanding according to a blog post.Its goal is to become a leader in continental Europe.
Its native country is a ‘large market’ with over €80bn euros in SME loans per year. “Where we have already proven that profitability is achievable, with over €160m lent in France alone. But we know that our lenders have a broader mindset and that more flexible and rapid financing is a European need (even if regulation can make crossing borders a complex endeavour),” according to the startups blog post.
“The Capital Markets Union, Lendix-style, is well underway with French savers enthusiastically backing Italian or Spanish companies and reciprocally. As proof, the correlation between the nationality of the borrowers and of the lenders on the platform is almost nil.”
Its aim is to be fully operational in five countries by end 2018 and in seven countries by 2019.
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