Defacto secures credit facility of up to €167m with Citi and Viola Credit
French B2B lender Defacto has secured a securitisation fund with Citi and Viola Credit of up to €167 million.
Defacto closes €167m securitisation fund
As part of the deal, Citi will act as the senior lender while Viola Credit will continue backing Defacto as a mezzanine lender of the fund.
The fund will have an initial size of €67 million, with increases subject to consent from the lenders.
Founded in 2021, the Paris-headquartered start-up provides loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help fuel their growth. Third parties such as B2B marketplaces, fintechs and other digital platforms can embed Defacto’s lending solution via API directly into their offerings.
In the last 18 months, Defacto claims to have handed out around €200 million in financing to over 7,000 businesses across Europe.
It says the new credit facility will be used to boost its yearly funding capacity up to €1 billion as the company looks to expand.
Jordane Giuly, co-founder and CEO of Defacto, says the facility is an “important milestone” for the firm given the current macroenvironment, “enabling our growth with both existing and new partners and answering the financing needs of thousands of SMEs”.
