EIB provides €30million for iZettle’s research and development
iZettle, a Swedish financial technology company, will receive EUR 30 million in debt funding from the European Investment Bank in the coming three years. The funds are earmarked for research and development of financial and commercial tools that address the needs of smaller companies. The transaction comes under the European Growth Finance Facility, which benefits from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe.
iZettle provides services through a state-of-the-art technology which allows small companies to take payments, to register sales and to get funding. The EIB financing will support iZettle’s research and development programme in four key business areas: development of next generation’s payments infrastructure, insights and actions through machine learning and artificial intelligence; digitalisation of commerce processes and scaling legislative and compliance systems.
EIB-Vice President Alexander Stubb said: “This loan is something that the EIB is proud of: It stands testimony to EIB’s ongoing effort to improve the access to funding for European mid-cap companies. iZettle is a young and innovative company which helps digitalise our economy and improves the business and cost structure of millions of small shops.”
“We’re proud to receive this stamp of approval from the EIB. It’s the type of offer you can’t refuse and it will allow us to further accelerate our growth and continue to level the playing field for small businesses, giving them access to tools to take on the big corporations” said Jacob de Geer, CEO and co-founder of iZettle.
European Commission Vice-President Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, commented: “With the support of the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the EIB continues to support truly innovative companies and project ideas, such as this one in Sweden with iZettle. I wish the company every success in their research and development programme. I hope other small businesses are inspired to also apply to the EIB’s partners for financing to innovate, expand their activities and create jobs.”
BACKGROUND
About iZettle
iZettle is on a mission to democratise commerce. Based in Stockholm, the financial technology company revolutionized mobile payments in 2011 with the world’s first mini chip card reader and software for mobile devices. Today, iZettle is a one-stop shop for commerce for small businesses around the world, using iZettle’s simple and powerful tools to take payments, to register and track sales and to get funding. Join us at iZettle.com
About EIB
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. In 2016 alone, the Bank made available nearly EUR 1.7bn in loans for Swedish projects.
About The Investment Plan for Europe
The Investment Plan for Europe focuses on strengthening European investments to create jobs and growth. It does so by making smarter use of new and existing financial resources, removing obstacles to investment, providing visibility and technical assistance to investment projects. The Investment Plan is already showing results. The projects and agreements approved for financing under the EFSI so far are expected to mobilise EUR 225 billion in total investments across 28 Member States and to support 445 000 SMEs. On 14 September 2016, the Commission proposed extending the EFSI by increasing its firepower and duration as well as reinforcing its strengths.
