Bridging the Financing Gap for SMEs

Softloans aims to bridge the significant gap in access to capital that many small businesses face, especially when competing against global e-commerce giants. By embedding their lending services into the digital platforms SMEs already use, Softloans makes it simpler for these businesses to obtain necessary funds without the usual complexities of traditional financing.

The pre-seed funding provides even more confidence and an opportunity to further develop the technological solution so that it is easily and smoothly applied not only to e-commerce businesses but also to businesses using POS terminals.

Audrius Griškevičius, co-founder and CEO of Softloans

Technological Innovation in Lending

The technology behind Softloans allows for the collection of data, analytics, risk assessment, and loan management, all streamlined within the digital platforms that businesses already utilize. This system enables SMEs to access financing based on their revenue, making the lending process more adaptable to their financial conditions. To date, Softloans has partnered with 10 platforms and processed data from nearly 1,000 corporate clients across Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Netherlands, Finland, and Poland.

The embedded financing tool we have developed works in such a way that the loan can be easily obtained by small and medium-sized businesses on other digital platforms that they use for their activities. The Softloans solution assesses the risks and creditworthiness of any e-shop extremely quickly and accurately. After the loan is issued, the solution constantly monitors the income flows and automatically deducts the agreed percentage for the repayment of the loan.

Audrius Griškevičius

With the fresh injection of capital, Softloans plans to expand its operations and technological development, aiming to reach more SMEs in Lithuania and beyond. This expansion is expected to help more businesses overcome the challenges of working capital constraints, fostering growth and stability in the SME sector.

The company, known for its efficient online money transfer service, serves over 7 million customers across 160 countries. This latest funding round, provided by the Taiwan-based venture capital firm Taiwania Capital, represents a strategic move to strengthen the fintech landscape in Lithuania and Taiwan and reinforce their cooperation in developing resilient, democratic supply chains.

We raised money because we wanted to expand faster in Asia Pacific. So that’s the next frontier for us. We are still taking customers from incumbents: 75% come from cash, banks, and Western Union — that’s still the gorilla in the room.

Daumantas Dvilinskas, TransferGo сo-founder and CEO

A Bridge Between Taiwan and Lithuania

TransferGo’s recent capital infusion is part of a broader strategy to accelerate growth in the Asia-Pacific region and introduce new, innovative financial products. With over 360 employees spread across Europe, TransferGo wants to leverage this investment to solidify its presence in existing markets and transform international money transfers, making them more accessible and cost-effective.

This investment also signifies the strengthening of ties between Taiwan and Lithuania. It follows previous investments by the Central and Eastern Europe Investment Fund, managed by Taiwania Capital, in sectors such as advanced laser and AI medical technologies in Lithuania. The Fund, which focuses on investments in Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, is dedicated to fostering innovation and development across various industries, including financial technology.

Modernizing Banking in the Cloud

The transition to Temenos SaaS will enable Šiaulių Bankas to leverage modern, cloud-native architecture and composable banking services, enhancing its business agility and enabling faster market access while maintaining high compliance and risk management standards. The core banking solution will encompass capabilities for product and pricing, data and analytics, account servicing, deposits, SME loans, and anti-money laundering (AML) measures.

This initiative represents Šiaulių Bankas’s commitment to employing next-generation technology to deliver exceptional customer services and experiences. By partnering with Temenos, a trusted SaaS provider for hundreds of banks, Šiaulių Bankas looks forward to benefiting from a broad set of composable banking capabilities. This platform aims to not only speed up the delivery of new solutions but also reduce operational costs compared to maintaining legacy systems.

A Strategic Win for Temenos

The partnership marks Temenos’ first client in Lithuania and is seen as a significant strategic win. It demonstrates the trust in its SaaS offerings among regulated traditional banks in Europe. This collaboration is expected to set a precedent for other traditional banks considering a shift to SaaS to enhance their competitiveness and innovation.