Softloans, a Vilnius-based fintech startup, has successfully secured €1 million in pre-seed funding to advance its mission of helping SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) gain easier access to financing. This funding round was led by Firstpick, with additional contributions from several angel investors. The company specializes in embedded lending technology, which integrates lending services directly into digital platforms such as e-commerce marketplaces, payment solution providers, and aggregators, thereby facilitating seamless loan offerings to their customers.
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.
