EARLYBIRD PORTFOLIO COMPANY SMAVA.DE, GERMANY'S LEADING PEER-TO-PEER LENDING PROVIDER, LAUNCHES COOPERATION FOR FURTHER GROWTH
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
Earlybird Venture Capital /
EARLYBIRD PORTFOLIO COMPANY SMAVA.DE, GERMANY'S LEADING PEER-TO-PEER LENDING
PROVIDER, LAUNCHES COOPERATION FOR FURTHER GROWTH
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The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
* Strategic cooperation with Germany's first community bank, Fidor Bank AG, as
of today
* Acquisition of Italy's leading peer-to-peer lending platform, Prestiamoci,
late October
* Move was supported by follow-up financing round of 4 million Euro
BERLIN, Dec. 01, 2011 - Earlybird Venture Capital portfolio company smava GmbH
(smava.de), Germany's leading peer-to-peer lending provider with headquarters in
Berlin, announced today that Fidor Bank AG, Germany's first community bank based
in Munich, will serve as the new central banking cooperation partner for
Germany. Together they serve a combined customer base of more than 80,000
registered customers. smava.de has arranged peer-to-peer loans with a cumulative
loan volume of more than EUR 57 million since 2007, representing more than
20,000 loan investors and 7,000 borrowers. Fidor Bank, established in 2010, had
customer deposits exceeding EUR 85 million end of fiscal year 2010.
smava.de's strategic collaboration with Fidor Bank aims at creating additional
value for borrowers and lenders in the fields of credit compliance and credit
handling procedures, including targeted new product development. Fidor Bank has
been accredited as the new banking license partner of smava.de, and ensures
regulatory compliance of all loan transactions handled via the smava.de market
place. Fidor also serves as the initial lending counterpart, and syndicates
loans to private investors at no premium.
"We are very pleased to have Fidor Bank AG as our new banking partner," said
Alexander Artopé, Managing Director and Co-founder of smava.de. "Since our start
in 2007, we have focused on the high quality and innovation of our platform in
terms of value, service and security. We are convinced that Fidor Bank is the
right future partner for us. We share a common understanding and view of the
future development of the online and social lending market, as well as of the
trends in the Web 2.0 universe."
"We very much welcome smava's step to cooperate with Fidor. The two leading
social banking specialists share an extensive expertise and know-how in online
financial services which will surely help them expand further in Europe", said
Earlybird Managing Partner Christian Nagel.
This step follows smava.de's recent move to expand within Europe: Late October,
smava.de expanded its activities to Italy by acquiring a majority stake in the
leading Italian social lending platform Prestiamoci. Moreover, Banca Sella, the
largest Italian private bank and previous owner of Prestiamoci, joined the
existing syndicate of Earlybird and Neuhaus Partners as new investor. The
expansion to Italy was complemented by a 4 million Euro financing round.
ABOUT SMAVA.DE
smava.de is Germany's largest online credit market. Borrowers can obtain cheap
online credit at smava.de as a clever alternative to a bank loan with investors
financing these loans directly. This way, smava.de establishes a direct
connection between investor funds and the use of these funds by private persons
and the self-employed. The resulting savings are passed on to customers in the
form of better terms: Borrowers receive cheaper credit than is available to them
through banks and investors benefit from better yields than could be obtained
from other interest-bearing investments. smava GmbH is a German company
headquartered in Berlin and is managed by an experienced team of finance and
Internet experts. Since its launch in 2007, more than 20,000 investors and
7,000 borrowers have done business with each other through the smava.de credit
market, with loans totalling around EUR 57 million in value.
More information atwww.smava.de or www.smava-blog.de.
ABOUT EARLYBIRD
Earlybird Venture Capital currently manages ?430 million in assets and is one of
Europe's most successful venture investors. Earlybird invests in innovative,
fast-growing technology enabled services companies with outstanding management
teams and high growth potential in international markets. Earlybird's portfolio
currently includes more than 20 companies and a number of market-leading
consumer Internet, digital media and enterprise services firms such as B2X Care,
Carpooling, Crowdpark, madvertise, Peak Games, smava, Socialbakers and
Ubitricity. Since its inception, Earlybird has invested in over 70 companies
that have sparked some of the most significant innovations in business and
technology. In addition to several successful trade sales, Earlybird has led six
companies to an IPO at four different European exchanges (Interhyp, Tipp24,
Wilex, Esmertec, entelos, and NoemaLife).
Further information is available at www.earlybird.com, subscribe to our blog:
www.blog.earlybird.com, follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/earlybirdvc or
become a friend on Facebook: www.facebook.com/EarlybirdVC
PRESS CONTACT:
SMAVA.DE
Christof Wisniewski / Katarzyna Rezza Vega
+49 30 21915960
smava.de(at)markengold.de
EARLYBIRD:
Sophie Buening
+49 89 29 07 02 - 0
+49 174 177 66 44
press(at)earlybird.com
--- End of Message ---
Earlybird Venture Capital
Maximilianstrasse 14 München Germany
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Source: Earlybird Venture Capital via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1567819]
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Datum: 01.12.2011 - 09:10 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 92884
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