Source: SimpleFinance
SF Holdings Company Plc, parent of MCC SimpleFinance LLC (“SimpleFinance” or the “Company”), a Russian fintech company providing accessible lending to small and medium-sized business, has completed its debut equity fundraising, with an investment from the SBI FinTech Business Innovation Fund LPS (the “SBI FinTech Fund” or the “Fund”).
The Fund, part of SBI Investments, is a JPY 30 billion (USD 271 million) fund that was launched in June 2016 to invest in promising venture companies in the FinTech field. SBI Investment is the core company in the SBI Group's Asset Management Business. It is one of Japan's leading venture capital firms. Since establishment, SBI Investment has focused on investments on growth sectors such as Fintech, information technology, biotechnology and life science.
This debut round of equity fundraising comes less than three months after SimpleFinance successfully priced its debut Eurobond issue of USD 30 million, with a 3-year tenor and a coupon rate of 10.5% per annum.
SimpleFinance CEO Alexey Basenko said:
“We are very pleased to announce completion of our debut equity fundraising, which also marks the first time that any Russian FinTech company has attracted a well-known international investor in the sector. SimpleFinance intends to use the funds for new loan issuance to continue growing its lending portfolio, which has expanded by 110% since 1 January 2017.”
SBI FinTech Fund will gain a seat on the Board of Directors of SimpleFinance, and participate in guiding the Company’s further strategic development.