Lithuanian alternative lender Finbee Verslui has raised €35m ($38m) in a funding round led by Pollen Street Capital to expand its loan services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The investment will be used by the lender to fast-track the provision of business loans, offering quicker processing and more favourable terms for Lithuanian SMEs.

The company, which has been providing financial solutions to SMEs since 2017, plans to finance more than 1,500 businesses, addressing a growing funding gap and increasing customer demand.

Finbee Verslui said its platform has already facilitated over 4,500 loans to more than 3,000 small businesses.

In addition, Finbee Verslui also aims to enhance its lending capabilities, which previously relied on its own funds.

The partnership with Pollen Street Capital is anticipated to facilitate a substantial expansion of operations.

Finbee emphasised that it funded over €27m in loans last year. With the new investment, the company aim to sustain this growth trend, forecasting more than €40m in new loan originations this year.

The company underscored the significant economic impact of their services, noting that small enterprises with up to ten workers comprise approximately 84% of all registered entities in Lithuania.

Finbee Verslui CEO Tomas Mačiulaitis said: “First of all, we will be able to pay out business loans much faster. Until now, it used to take over a week to crowdfund larger loans, while now it will take just a few hours from signing the contract to the money being in the account.

“Moreover, regardless of the customer’s ability to borrow, we had to limit the maximum loan amount based on the liquidity on our platform. This means that if a relatively large business wants to borrow €100,000 and we assessed that it could borrow that amount, we still had to reduce it to €50,000. Now we will be able to lend as much as the real need is.”

Legal representation for Finbee Verslui during the funding round was provided by Motieka & Audzevičius.