After raising $37 million in a funding round backed by investors such as Idinvest and Allianz, French lending platform Lendix is eyeing expansion in Europe. The backing will provide a boost to its growth plans in countries such as Germany, TechCrunch reported.
“When you want to open in Germany — and that is our current plan — it’s harder to recruit if you don’t have a German brand name behind you,” Lendix co-founder and CEO Olivier Goy told TechCrunch.
Allianz and Idinvest led the round, while CIR SpA (De Benedetti’s holding firm) participated. In addition, existing investors – Partech, Decaux Frères Investissements, CNP Assurances and Matmut – participated in the round. Currently, individuals in Italy, Spain and France can lend money to companies in those countries. The company hopes to grow to include Germany and the Netherlands before the close of 2018. Also, the company seeks to operate in seven countries in 2019.
The news comes a little more than two years after Lendix secured a $13.5 million investment in its Series B funding round, led by CNP Assurances. At the time, the company said its new capital will be used towards an expansion into Spain and Italy, as well as increasing its range of available products.
“We’re delighted to welcome such prominent investors; their partnership with Lendix is a strong expression of trust in our ambition to revolutionize SME lending,” Goy said at the time. “We have many streams of collaboration with them in France, Spain and Italy, which will benefit our lenders and our borrowers.”
At the time, the market was experiencing rapid growth, and the funding round would assist it in becoming a “leader in Continental Europe.” Research had also revealed Europe’s alternative finance market to be the strongest in the world at present; findings from the University of Cambridge had singled out France as one of Europe’s strongest emerging alternative lending markets.
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