Swedish SME financing platform DBT has closed a SEK 3.1 billion (approximately €286 million) debt facility from UK bank NatWest and US alternative investment firm Värde Partners.
The funding, said to be the largest investment in a Nordic SME lending startup to date, will enable the company to continue providing corporate loans to SMEs in the country.
Founded in 2017, DBT’s platform leverages real-time client data to tailor funding to borrowers.
The company claims to have lent more than SEK 2 billion (approximately €185 million) in the past six years and that its borrowers have outperformed other SMEs by over seven times in terms of growth.
“This is a milestone financing arrangement which enables us to support even more scaling SMEs across Sweden. It comes at the best possible time, as the SME companies we support see increased need for flexible yet long term strong financing in light of the current energy crisis, inflation surge and rising fuel prices,”
said Alexis Kopylov, CEO and Co-Founder of DBT.
“Borrowers, both commercial and consumer, are increasingly demanding more tailored forms of capital to fund their growth and purchases. We believe this has created a substantial asset-based lending opportunity for us that is set to grow materially over the next five years,”
said Aneek Mamik, Partner and Global Head of Financial Services at Värde Partners.
