The Portuguese challenger bank will invest up to €15m via the Creditshelf platform.
Innovative Portuguese challenger bank Banco BNI Europa continues to beef up its roster of alternative lending partners. The latest to join is German mid-market business lending platform Creditshelf – which is well-known for originating bigger ticket loans than the majority of marketplace lenders.
BNI has agreed to invest up to €15m via the Creditshelf platform over the coming months. The programme will begin with an investment in the platform’s existing loan portfolio, after which exposure will be increased by up to €2m a month.
BNI has been ramping up its innovative lending strategy in 2017, announcing partnerships with UK invoice finance firm MarketInvoice and Portuguese P2P platform RAIZE, among others. The challenger bank reported strong revenue and profit growth in the first half of 2017, citing a complete change in strategy that has hinged upon a focus on innovative products.
“Investing in loans to medium-sized companies based in Germany is a very attractive class of investment to us”, said Pedro Coelho, executive chairman of BNI Europa. “With the Creditshelf team, we have identified a highly professional partner, whose credit analysis process has proven totally convincing to us.”
Creditshelf managing director Dr. Daniel Bartsch said that the platform’s expanded investor base takes its financing commitments to well above €100m, giving it significant firepower and allowing for the rapid provision of funds to medium-sized businesses.
