Swiss PostFinance is moving into the SME crowdlending marketplace through an alliance with Rocket Internet-backed Lendico.
Set to launch in the final quarter, the joint venture partners say the initiative will provide Swiss SMEs with a modern alternative to traditional bank financing.
Dominik Steinkühler, co-founder and managing director of Lendico, says: "As part of the continued expansion of an international credit marketplace, this joint venture represents a significant step in our business development."
Founded in 2013 by Rocket Internet in Berlin, Lendico now operates in eight countries worldwide. Originally established purely as a credit marketplace for private individuals, the firm expanded its services in 2015 to include corporate credit.
Hansruedi Köng, CEO of PostFinance, says the aim of the joint venture is to take crowdlending in Switzerland from niche status to the mass market.
"The combination of Lendico's innovative capacity and our structures in Switzerland offers the best conditions for Lendico Schweiz AG to become a market leader in the future," he says.