Weholding subscribes a stake equal to 10% of the share capital, and Banca Valsabbina 5%.
Autore: v.m.
Netfintech, the startup that through the Change Capital brand innovates access to credit and liquidity for SMEs, announces the closing of a Series B financing round of 1.7 million euros.
The capital increase sees the entry into the shareholding of Weholding, which subscribes a stake equal to 10% of the share capital, and of Banca Valsabbina with 5%. Weholding Srl is a holding company held by a group of professionals working in the financial, industrial and business services sectors. Established at the end of 2021, it is in its second minority investment in Italian hi-tech companies.
The new shareholders join the founders Francesco Brami and Tiziano Cetarini (who participates through Rewind Srl), the CTO Alessio Donati and the Banca Popolare di Cortona, which after having fully subscribed to the first capital increase that took place in 2021 participated pro-quota in the new round and today holds 9.5% of the company.
The capital raised will be used to support the further development of the technological platform and strengthen, also through targeted acquisitions, the facilitated financial division considered strategic according to the PNRR. With Change Capital, as for financing solutions, companies will be able to know in a few seconds the calls of interest and for which they are suitable and what the granted contribution can be. In addition, the organic growth of the business will be accelerated by exploiting industrial and commercial synergies with new partners and expanding the team by investing in new talent. Part of the resources will eventually be used for ESG investments.
Rewind, a growth acceleratorfor SMEs and innovative startups, played the role of Financial Advisor of the operation through the Corporate Finance team coordinated by Dr. Luca Fabbroni.
Francesco Brami, CEO and co-founder of Change Capital, comments: "This new round confirms the validity of the implemented model, the new shareholders recognize us in fact the ability to respond both to the need to facilitate access to liquidity for SMEs and to that of credit operators to quickly get in touch with companies with qualified characteristics. The operation is based on financial assumptions but, as was also the case with Banca Popolare di Cortona, which entered the capital last year, industrial and commercial synergies will be implemented which will help us to growat an even faster rate. The new shareholding structure confirms the importance of collaboration between traditional and digital financial players to bring benefits to SMEs in the first place and to the whole sector through the creation of newmodels".
Tiziano Cetarini, CFO and co-founder, adds: "Since arriving on the market in 2019, we have grown rapidly, achieving important results in just a few years with a growth trend of 100% year on year, but we are still only at the beginning of a path to establish ourselves as a reference platform for financial solutions for companies SMEs that today present many opportunities. In fact, we are talking about a very wide target at European level and ours is a model designed to be scalable. When we launched the project we had the precise vision of creating a fintech in orderto open the doors to a new world of opportunities to economically support small and medium-sized enterprises, the backbone of the Sistema Paese, today through the use of technology we can say that we are on the right path".
Hermes Bianchetti, Head of the Business Division of Banca Valsabbina, comments: "For some years the Bank has been implementing a Fintech strategy that to date has allowed us to define important and diversified industrial partnerships trying to combine traditional and innovation in the best possible way. Our goal is to facilitate access to credit for SMEs, also by offering products and solutions complementary to "traditional finance", to support the real economy. The context is constantly evolving and consequently the business models that present themselves and affirm themselves on the market are also known. Change Capital fits well into our strategy allowing us to connect SMEs to a fintech network able to offer "innovative" and transversal financial solutions, which can also be integrated with "traditional" services. We believe in the potential of the project that involves realities of primary importance with the common goal of contributing to further synergistic growth".
Roberto Calzini, General Manager of Banca Popolare di Cortona, comments: "One year after our entry into the capital of Netfintech, we welcome with great pleasure this further capital strengthening operation, which has a strong industrial connotation, since it is implemented by the real economy, which operate every day to support the productive economic fabric of our country. Our Bank has joined the capital increase to give the right strength to its participation and carry on with renewed energy, and with two new partners of high standing, all the themes that had inspired our entry into the Change Capital project".
Registered with the OAM as a credit broker, Change Capital aggregates the solutions of the most reliable operators in the financial sector in a single digital platform and with the only insertion of the VAT number, through a proprietary algorithm, in a few seconds identifies the most appropriate ones for the specific company. Through an internal consulting team, the SME accompanies you throughout the process: from the analysis of all the available opportunities, to the identification of the most suitable one for the specific company, up to the closing of the transaction.More than 1,000 companies have financed themselves through the Change Capital platform for over €150 million brokered. Since its inception in 2019, the company has recorded a growth trend of +100% year-on-year.