SimpleFinance Attracts Investment From SBI FinTech Business Innovation Fund

MOSCOW, September 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

SF Holdings Company Plc, parent of MCC SimpleFinance LLC ("SimpleFinance" or the "Company"), a Russian fintech company providing accessible lending to small and medium-sized businesses, has completed its debut equity fundraising, with an investment from the SBI FinTech Business Innovation Fund LPS (the "SBI FinTech Fund" or the "Fund").

The Fund, part of SBI Investments, is a JPY 30 billion (USD 271 million) fund that was launched in June 2016 to invest in promising venture companies in the FinTech field. SBI Investment is the core company in the SBI Group's Asset Management Business. It is one of Japan's leading venture capital firms. Since establishment, SBI Investment has focused on investments on growth sectors such as FinTech, information technology, biotechnology and life science.

This debut round of equity fundraising comes less than three months after SimpleFinance successfully priced its debut Eurobond issue of USD 30 million, with a 3-year tenor and a coupon rate of 10.5% per annum.

SimpleFinance CEO Alexey Basenko said:

"We are very pleased to announce completion of our debut equity fundraising, which also marks the first time that any Russian FinTech company has attracted a well-known international investor in the sector. SimpleFinance intends to use the funds for new loan issuance to continue growing its lending portfolio, which has expanded by 110% since 1 January 2017."

SBI FinTech Fund will gain a seat on the Board of Directors of SimpleFinance, and participate in guiding the Company's further strategic development.

About the Company 

SimpleFinance was founded in 2015 and offers a unique product line of affordable financing tools for small and medium-sized businesses in Russia:

• Factoring - liquidity financing backed by accounts receivable
• Asset-backed loans - general purpose financing secured by residential or commercial real estate for a period of up to 10 years
• Commercial mortgages - funds for real estate purchase of any purposes
• Unsecured loans - working capital financing
• Tender loans - provision of funds for securing bids and for executing government contracts

In addition, the Company has built its own P2P platform, called SimplyFi, for small and medium-sized businesses to raise funds directly from private investors and TenderHub - one platform for all tender loan related needs.

Thanks to its robust IT platform and in-house know-how in the field of risk management, as well as fully electronic document processing, clients can count on fast decision-making and high-quality service. At the same time, all customer interactions take place online, without the need to visit an office in person, saving time and money.

SimpleFinance is licensed by the Central Bank of Russia and is a member of the Association of Factoring Companies.