African SMB lender Lidya will expand to Eastern Europe, the Nigerian company announced, targeting $1.1 billion in European loans. The SMB lender will bring its model of fast loan disbursement first to Poland and the Czech Republic.
Prospa, the Australian small business lender, debuted at $4.50 on the ASX yesterday. At a $720 million IPO market cap, Prospa joins Afterpay and Zip as Australian fintech success stories.
Last month, German fintech startup Raisin announced a Series D, with PayPal, Ribbit Capital, Index Ventures, and Thrive Capital investing $114 million. Raisin provides consumers with a selection of deposit and savings products from many financial institutions, in a single place.
London is currently the undisputed fintech hub, but this position will be challenged in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Will Ireland replace it?
Google Payments obtained the right to provide financial services in the European Union. The license allows Google Payments to manage virtual wallets and process payments, among other rights.
More than 99.5% of U.S. companies are SMBs, but many struggle to access credit. The gap left by the banks has created an opportunity for fintech startups to enter the SMB lending space.