Disrupting German consumer finance
Partnering with smava to build Germany’s leading online marketplace for consumer loans
About smava
We invested in smava, Germany’s leading online marketplace for consumer loans, as part of a portfolio deal in 2016.
Investment rationale
smava rides a secular growth trend in the form of the offline-to-online migration and digitalisation of the German consumer finance space. Our base in the more digitalised Nordic markets provided a vantage point of what the development for consumer loan and digital intermediaries in Germany was likely to look like, and previous investment experience in an online intermediary business meant we saw a possibility to lend our support to a marketplace leader helming the digital disruption of an industry.
We partnered in 2016 because Verdane showed an in-depth understanding of our company culture and the requirements for growth. Over the years, Verdane has repeatedly proven to be an excellent support and has helped us to become a well-known market leader in Germany.
Examples of our contribution to the development of smava include:
- Optimisation of marketing spend to improve customer acquisition cost and cash flow
- Optimisation of terms with third-party banks active on smava’s platform
- Active work on the Board of Directors to lead, synchronize and accelerate decision paths
- Support to the management team during funding rounds
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