Swedish SME lender DBT signs up to 1 billion SEK funding agreement with NatWest Markets N.V.
Swedish based SME lender DBT has today entered into a financing agreement with NatWest to lend up to 1 billion SEK to Swedish SMEs. The funding facility will enable greater growth and financing opportunities for SMEs. DBT also announces the closing of a 70 million SEK equity round. The equity funding will enable DBT to scale even further and continue its journey to build the next generation SME lender.
The funding agreement with NatWest will enable DBT to continue meeting the strong demand for growth and innovation oriented corporate loans that has arisen in recent years and even accelerated since the break-out of the pandemic more than a year ago.
“Through this partnership with NatWest, DBT will be able continue on its journey to support Swedish SMEs with the funding they need and deserve. We are honored to have entered into this financing arrangement with NatWest to support our mission to close the SME funding gap” says Alexis Kopylov, CEO and co-founder of DBT.
NatWest is committed to supporting SMEs and, in November 2019, issued its first social bond which provided lending to SMEs in the most deprived areas of the UK.
"Financial support from banks is often crucial to the success of SMEs. This transaction reflects NatWest purpose, which includes removing barriers to enterprise, and demonstrates our core capabilities and expertise. We believe DBT to be uniquely positioned to build a leading challenger position within SME-lending and are happy to work with them on that journey" says Olmo Montesanti, Managing Director at NatWest
“The collaboration with NatWest is also in line with the overall development in the financial market, where we see more and more established global banks in collaboration with fintech challengers like us, who efficiently meet different customer needs” says Alexis Kopylov, CEO of DBT
In addition, DBT is announcing a 70 million SEK equity round from both existing and new investors. The equity injection sets the foundation for taking DBT to the next level.
“With the new funding in place, we are able to further grow DBT and support more entrepreneurs and SMEs. The funding will enable DBT to further expand the portfolio and continue developing its proprietary origination and credit intelligence platform. Both funding agreements are important milestones in our dedicated work to build a strong and scalable next gen SME-lender with a clear customer focus” says Alexis.
In early March, DBT was granted a credit guarantee of SEK 1.5 billion under the European Investment Fund's new Pan-European Guarantee Facility ("EGF").
Carnegie Investment Bank has acted as financial advisor to DBT. Roschier Advokatbyrå has been legal advisor regarding the debt funding and Wigge Advokatbyrå has been legal advisor regarding the equity funding.
For more information, please contact:
Alexis Kopylov, CEO & Founder, DBT, +46 (0) 73-352 33 79, alexis@dbt.se
www.dbt.se
DBT in brief
DBT was founded in 2017 with the ambition of creating better growth opportunities for Sweden's small and medium-sized companies. DBT's customers are growing companies in all industries that for various reasons need a corporate loan to continue their growth journey. DBT's corporate financing is aimed at limited companies that have been registered for at least two years and need to borrow SEK 3-30 million. DBT is a registered financial institution with the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority.
NatWest in brief
Global market access is offered by the NatWest Markets Group across NatWest Markets Plc (NWM Plc) and its subsidiaries, including NatWest Markets N.V. (NWM N.V.). NWM Plc has its primary trading and origination hub in London, with Amsterdam-based NWM N.V. providing access to EU capital markets and support for our European customers.
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