Zvilo signs terms to a €50m debt facility with a London FinTech fund

By Leandra Monteiro

Credit-led challenger, Zvilo, has signed a term sheet for a new debt facility of up to €50m with a London-based alternative asset management company.

Zvilo is transforming business lending in the Balkans by providing short-term working capital facilities to SMEs across different value chains. The supplier finance program will be further automated through Zvilo’s proprietary platform, combining scale and accessibility from the outset. The new facility will enable Zvilo to transform the region’s traditional banking sector and revolutionise how SMEs access working capital.

Admir Imami, Chairman of Zvilo, commented, “We are beyond delighted to have secured terms for the new facility. Zvilo is working on the proposition that supplier financing is a well-penetrated product in Western Europe but not in the Balkans, where the opportunity is enormous. We aim to offer bridge capital to those businesses seeking to finance trade flows originating in and from the Balkans.”

“The €50m facility will enable us to turbocharge our business lending in Kosovo, followed by the rest of the region, providing innovative working capital solutions to SMEs. This is particularly important in a post-Covid world as SMEs seek to bring trading levels back to pre-Covid times. Our seamless and sustainable funding solutions will help these SMEs with the required liquidity, so they reach their pre-Covid trading levels while also taking advantage of our digital financial product offering,” concluded Imami.

Shahem Samian, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Zvilo said, “This announcement is a huge vote of confidence to Zvilo’s business model. Following the recent success of securing our lending (factoring) license from the Central Bank of Kosovo, we have kick-started our supplier finance program and are in the exciting final stages of optimising our innovative Supply Chain Finance platform with an artificial intelligence engine. The platform will be an invaluable tool for Zvilo to scale its SME supplier onboarding and funding across the Balkans and assist with our ESG reporting.”

“Securing the terms to such facility is a huge endorsement of Zvilo’s management and the willingness of the international investor community to back such a team and invest in a market such as the Balkans,” added Samain.