Froda, the Swedish business lender, ventures into a new significant market
Stella Snickare, VP Froda Embedded (to the left) Olle Lundin, co-founder and CEO of Froda, (to the right. Photo: press.
Froda continues to broaden its reach. After establishing operations in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, and Finland over recent years, it is now stepping into another big market – Germany.
This expansion is not a solo venture. Froda has partnered with Ageras to ensure a smooth and successful transition into the German market. This strategic alliance underscores both companies' commitment to growth and their belief in the potential of this new market.
Froda is driven by a vision to bolster entrepreneurs by offering them effortless entry to SME financing on equitable terms. Europe houses approximately 25 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with Germany, the continent's economic powerhouse, employing 18.5 million individuals through these businesses.
However, despite their significant presence, access to financial resources continues to pose a significant hurdle for these smaller enterprises. To address this issue, in 2021 Froda introduced its technical platform - Froda Embedded. This platform aims at making SME financing within Europe more attainable via collaborations with banks, payment service providers and fintech companies.
"Being Europe's largest economy with a dense business landscape, Germany holds a key position in the realization of our vision to democratize financing for all SMEs, something we have diligently worked towards for eight years. The expansion into the German market is a milestone for Froda, and we eagerly anticipate supporting German entrepreneurs in collaboration with Ageras," says Olle Lundin, co-founder and CEO of Froda.
Froda Embedded was initiated with the objective of empowering businesses and banks throughout Europe. It achieves this by integrating Froda's platform into their existing offerings, thereby facilitating direct financing to their customers. The past year has seen a substantial increase in lending and customer numbers via Froda Embedded, nearly tripling in size.
This growth has significantly bolstered Froda's overall expansion, which is close to one hundred percent. Particularly noteworthy is the international lending sector, which has seen an impressive 800 percent surge. A key factor contributing to this success is the partnership with Ageras.
Ageras is recognized as one of Germany's top providers of integrated banking, accounting and tax services through Kontist. With this collaboration in place, 50,000 German entrepreneurs now have access to financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
"Our solution facilitates automatic payouts via business cards, reducing processing time to seconds instead of several banking days. This can be a game-changer for entrepreneurs looking to invest in their business, but perhaps even more important in tough times like now. Launching this product with Ageras in the German market is genuinely thrilling," says Stella Snickare, VP Froda Embedded.
In a significant development, Froda revealed a collaboration with Ageras in November, marking a crucial step in the company's ongoing growth and expansion efforts. The partnership has now paved the way for Froda to venture into the German market.
This partnership establishes Germany as the next worldwide market to harness Froda's novel card-integrated lending technology. This innovation, a significant leap in the financial tech sector, aims to streamline financial access for entrepreneurs through their Visa Business cards.
"Recognizing the substantial need for SME financing among German entrepreneurs, our collaboration with Froda allows us to provide a scalable product, supporting the growth of more businesses," says Martin Hegelund, co-founder of Ageras.
The product is set to launch in Germany in February 2024.
Sohrab Fadai, sohrab@heartspace.ai