Investment
Venture capital firm Earlybird said it completed a €4 million funding of smava, Germany’s first online marketplace for person-to-person lending. Other investors in the round were the Internet entrepreneurs Lukasz Gadowski of Spreadshirt, Stefan Glänzer of Last.fm, Oliver Jung, Adinvest, Peter Schüpbach,GenevaLogic and Tim Schwenke of getmobile.
smava will use the money for product development, risk management and marketing. Christian Nagel, Managing Partner of Earlybird, said, “smava is the first company in Germany to launch a secure online credit marketplace for money lending between individuals. Just as Interhyp – a first-generation fund Earlybird investment – has had a major impact on the market for online mortgage financing, smava can improve the consumer credit market by ensuring better terms and greater transparency for consumers.”
To date loans worth €100,000 have been arranged via smava, which the company claims shows that German investors and borrowers accept the model established by the UK lending site Zopa.
Alexander Artopé, general manager of smava GmbH, said “Participation by a well known venture capital specialist like Earlybird and reputable Internet entrepreneurs gives smava the opportunity to increase its lead.”
Berlin-based smava earns money by charging the borrower a single performance fee of one percent of the loan sum financed. The service is free to investors.
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