Spain-based online lender Spotcap has raised €13m ($16.5m) in series A funding from investors including Holtzbrinck Ventures and conglomerate Access Industries, according to Bloomberg.
Holtzbrinck Ventures, a firm spun out of Germany-based publisher Georg von Holtzbrinck, and Access are also investors in Rocket Internet, the venture firm that incubated Spotcap and raised $1.75bn in its own flotation, which closed in early October.
Spotcap began offering short term loans of up to €50,000 to businesses last month. It intends to use the funding to expand into new markets, and is seeking out possible locations in Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas.
Spotcap co-founder Toby Triebel told Bloomberg: “We saw a massive funding need for small businesses.
“Banks are reluctant to lend to businesses in any case given the massive economic pressure.”