Liberis to support thousands more small businesses with the finance they need to thrive
London – January 22, 2020 – Liberis Group, the fintech on a mission to reshape small business finance for good, has successfully closed a $42 million funding round in its largest equity capital fundraise to date. The investment was led by FTV Capital – a growth equity firm with a successful track record of supporting high-growth financial services and technology companies – with Liberis’ existing owners, Blenheim Chalcot, investing alongside FTV Capital.
Since its inception, Liberis has provided over 15,000 small businesses with more than $500 million in finance. Liberis’ partners, which include four of the world’s largest merchant acquirers, currently white-label its finance platform to offer funding to their own small business customers.
The last 18 months have seen rapid global growth for Liberis with expansion into six countries including the UK, US, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovak and Finland. This new investment will support the business as it further expands its footprint in the United States and in two additional countries in Europe, as well as attract the best talent with a 30% increase in headcount planned for the coming year. The investment will also enable the company to scale at pace through its unique partnerships model to support even more small businesses.
Rob Straathof, CEO, Liberis, commented: “Small businesses are the lifeblood of the global economy, yet they continue to be turned away by banks and traditional lenders or faced with unhelpful repayment terms and complex processes. We are delighted with this investment from FTV Capital as it means we can continue to onboard new partners across the world, expand our product range and grow our team. 2020 is set to be an exciting year for Liberis as this financial investment will help to accelerate our plans to support millions of small businesses around the world with fast, flexible and fair funding.”
Jerome Hershey, Senior Investment Advisor at FTV Capital, said: “FTV believes the convergence of payment processing and SMB lending presents a massive investment opportunity. Liberis’ differentiated distribution model offers a compelling value proposition for both its strategic partners and small business customers. To support a significant growth trajectory as it expands internationally across Europe and in the United States, Liberis can now leverage our Global Partner Network®, a group of leading finance and payments enterprises that have helped FTV portfolio companies for two decades. We are thrilled to be working with company’s strong management team, and existing investors, to help them execute their vision.”
To strengthen its US operation, Liberis has recently appointed industry veteran, Howard Kramen, as US General Manager. Kramen brings with him 30 years financial services leadership experience from businesses including HSBC, Capital One and PayPal. Having led PayPal’s global credit operations, Kramen also played an instrumental role in lending over $10 billion to over 225,000 small businesses across the US, UK, Australia and Germany. Howard’s appointment comes at a crucial time for Liberis as it secured its first US partnership with one of the leading global payments providers.
Liberis also welcomes Jerome Hershey from FTV Capital onto its Board. Having led OnDeck’s IPO as the company’s Head of Business and Corporate Development, and with investing roles at Spectrum Equity and Technology Crossover Ventures, Jerome brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Liberis and will support the organization as it continues to grow its presence in the United States.
Contacts
Alexa Ottenstein
PROSEK PARTNERS FOR FTV CAPITAL
646-818-9051
pro-ftvcapital@prosek.com
