All systems go for Lendix as the platform secures another €200m in lending capital.
The European Investment Bank has doubled down on its commitment to Lendix – the leading marketplace lender for small businesses in Continental Europe. The supranational bank first committed €18.5m to fund SMEs via the Lendix platform in July.
Now the bank, acting via the European Investment Fund (EIF), is participating in a €200m funding programme that also features investors CNP Assurances, Eiffel IM, Groupama, Zencap AM, Matmut and Decaux Frères Investissements. €120m of the funding has already been secured and lending will begin in February.
This vehicle takes over from a €90m programme which closed in July 2017, and which funded loans to approximately 250 European small businesses. Lendix has lent a little shy of €150m to date, according to AltFi Data.
“This new commitment by leading institutional investors will increase Lendix’s capacity to support the growth of more than 600 small and medium-sized companies,” said Olivier Goy, founder of Lendix.
Lendix has effectively taken over from Funding Circle as the European Investment Bank’s distribution platform partner of choice. Funding Circle’s planned multi-billion pound SME funding programme with the bank was effectively killed off by Brexit.
“Our contribution to the fund reflects our strong commitment to French and European SMEs”, said Pier Luigi Gilibert, managing director of the European Investment Fund. “Our objective is to support the development of companies while facilitating their access to new and attractive financing methods. Through its action, Lendix perfectly meets the EIF’s mission to finance and assist European SMEs in their development strategies.”
With the new funding in place, Lendix will offer loans of between €30,000 and €5m to European SMEs. In other words, it will be straying further into the mid-market space, which has to date been less of a concern among fintech lending platforms.
Yesterday, Lendix announced a trio of new hires including a new chief financial officer and chief risk officer. The platform, already active in three markets across Europe, is expected to announce its entry into a further two markets soon.
