Valsabbina Bank Increases Its Stake in Prestiamoci to 100%

Valsabbina Bank had acquired its 9.9% stake in the startup by subscribing to a capital increase that, according to BeBeez, amounted to about €2 million, in which the other pre-existing shareholders had also participated, including, in addition to the founders led by Daniele Loro, Banca Sella, Club Italia Investimenti 2, Innogest, Digital Magics, and some high-profile business angels such as Stefano Miccinelli, Luca Gacometti, and Roberto Condulmari.

That deal followed the intervention in the role of the lead investor by the Brescia-based institution in the first two securitization transactions carried out by Prestiamoci. The first, in November 2018, for €25 million in which Vasabbina Bank had invested €6 million, and the more recent, in November 2030, for €60 million.

Read more details about Valsabbina Banks and why the company bought the fintech company Prestiamoci, and find the most important financial news of the day with the Born2Invest mobile app.

In October 2013, Prestiamoci raised a €550,000 seed round

Previously, Prestiamoci had raised a total of €6.6 million from investors in two never-publicly announced rounds, traces of which can be found in the documents of Digital Magics, the Aim Italia-listed incubator, which has been a partner since 2013. The startup had cashed in a €550,000 seed round in October 2013, and in September 2014 the incubator signed a new €450,000 round.

Subsequently, in December 2015, Prestiamoci announced a €2 million investment round that had been underwritten by Innogest sgr (lead investor), Banca Sella Holding, Club Italia Investimenti 2, and other Italian and international investors. Digital Magics in the deal had also involved a wide network of private and institutional investors that support the investees in its portfolio.

In 2017, the company, valued then at €4.5 million pre-money, had raised another €1.6 million from existing shareholders plus Pitagora/CR Asti, while during 2019 Prestiamoci cashed in an additional €2 million round subscribed again by existing shareholders.

Active for more than 10 years in Italy, Prestiamoci, a financial company authorized and supervised by the Bank of Italy pursuant to Art. 106 TUB, manages through its proprietary platform of the same name a marketplace of personal loans between individuals, promoting lending between people within a single virtual place where individuals who present projects to be financed (applicants) and individuals who intend to invest part of their availability in initiatives of their interest (lenders) meet.

With triple-digit growth rates, the company now has about more than 8 thousand customers, with more than 80 million loans disbursed, and is the first Italian platform in the consumer sector, about tenth in continental Europe. In January 2021, the company also obtained from the German Institute of Quality and Finance the seal of quality as the best offering in Italy for social lending loans, achieving the stamp of “TOP Conditions” in social lending, with an excellent rating for three years in a row.

The latest round is instrumental in strengthening and growing the company, especially in technology

“But a good part of the funds raised will also be used on marketing,” CEO Loro said, who added, “Prestiamoci is extending its positioning from the first Italian platform in P2P lending to individuals to that of a leader in digital lending investment management. We are very pleased to see Prestiamoci’s core shareholders joined in the capital increase by Valsabbina Bank, a dynamic partner open to innovation with which to develop industrial synergies, as well as seize opportunities arising from new business.”

Daniele Loro, CEO of Prestiamoci Spa, commented, “The strengthening of the agreement with Valsabbina Bank will allow the company to continue on the path it has started and direct it as part of an articulated and structured project, which aims to further enhance the platform taking into account the investments made in recent years. We have been collaborating for some time with the Brescian Institute, which has proven to be an ideal partner to support the company in this market phase.”

Hermes Bianchetti, deputy general manager of Valsabbina Bank, added, “Prestiamoci is among the Italian leaders in fintech and digital financing to individuals. The increased investment is part of our strategies for development, diversification, and innovation. We started working with this reality a few years ago, supporting the initiative with funding aimed at facilitating its growth and business development. The acquisition of the entirety of the fintech is necessary to enable us to further enhance the value of Prestiamoci and the controlled payment institution Pitupay, as part of an industrial development path that is increasingly synergistic and transversal.”

In fact, by virtue of this acquisition, the Brescia-based bank will further implement its offering with complementary and innovative solutions aimed at retail customers and professionals, precisely through the fintech platform.

As for Valsabbina Bank, it continues its m&a campaign in the fintech sector

The last previous acquisition dates back to last January and involved a 10% stake in the fintech startup NYP Techfin srl, a technology platform with a focus on trade receivables from the public administration, which is part of the Collection Group, a leader in sub servicing for the management of portfolios related to receivables from the PA.

In March 2022, Valsabbina Bank bought 9 percent of the equity and lending crowdfunding platform Opstart.

Prior to that, in February 2022, together with the Italian fintech Credit Service, the bank launched Invoice Be-Tech, a program that aimed to invest up to €50 million revolving in invoices issued by local SMEs. The transaction followed Valsabbina Bank’s entry into the capital of Credit Service Spa, owner of the invoice trading platform MyCreditService.com, which took place in June 2021 with the subscription of a capital increase reserved for the Brescia-based bank and Siav spa, a Padua-based tech leader in software for electronic document and digital process management, following which they had taken over 17.5 and 13.1 percent, respectively. Finally, recall that in September 2018 the bank had participated in the €18 million round of Satispay.

__

(Featured image by byrev via Pixabay)

DISCLAIMER: This article was written by a third-party contributor and does not reflect the opinion of Born2Invest, its management, staff or its associates. Please review our disclaimer for more information.

This article may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “estimate,” “become,” “plan,” “will,” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks as well as uncertainties, including those discussed in the following cautionary statements and elsewhere in this article and on this site. Although the Company may believe that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, the actual results that the Company may achieve may differ materially from any forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of the management of the Company only as of the date hereof. Additionally, please make sure to read these important disclosures.

First published in Be Beez, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

Although we made reasonable efforts to provide accurate translations, some parts may be incorrect. Born2Invest assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions or ambiguities in the translations provided on this website. Any person or entity relying on translated content does so at their own risk. Born2Invest is not responsible for losses caused by such reliance on the accuracy or reliability of translated information. If you wish to report an error or inaccuracy in the translation, we encourage you to contact us.