Defacto, a credit infrastructure platform, has raised €15m in a funding round, which was led by Northzone.
Other commitments came from Headline and Global Founders. The round was also supported by angel investors, including eFounders founder Thibaud Elzière, Spendesk founder and CEO Rodolphe Ardant, former Societe Generale deputy CEO Didier Valet and Lendable founder Victoria van lennep.
The FinTech company was founded in 2021 by Spendesk co-founder Jordane Giuly, Morgan O’hana, and Marc-Henri Gires, with the aim of giving seamless and instant financing to SMEs.
It provides loans and credit to SMEs through an embedded finance platform. Its API-based product enables third parties such as marketplaces, e-commerce platforms and others.
Since it launched in France, the company has established partnerships with over 15 B2B marketplaces, FinTech companies and e-commerce businesses. Defacto has also issued over €30m in short-term loans.
With the support of a €400m lending capacity, the company is now launching its solution in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.
Morgan O’hana said, “Cash flow and access to liquidity are once again reasons for concern due to inflation, repayment of state covid loan and rising interest rates. An EY study estimates that in France alone, over 40.000 businesses will fail. It was 28.000 in 2021.
“We are building a product for builders, not bankers. Access to capital should be fair and instant. Banks rely on data that is at least 18 months old and then take 4 months or longer to process loan applications.â€
Earlier in the year, fellow French FinTech company +Simple raised €90m in a growth financing round, which was led by KKR. The capital came alongside three acquisitions.
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