Swedish bank SEB is to invest Skr10 million in local startup Leasify, which helps SMEs secure better deals for rental and leasing agreements.
Founded in 2014, Leasify has approximately 1000 businesses connected to its platform, through which they can compare and contrast their own spending on rental contracts with their peers.
Companies connected to the platform receive notifications when contracts expire and can procure new leasing and financing services via a range of similar offers provided by 40 suppliers, banks and financing companies.
Leasify makes it money by taking a percentage on contracts signed with suppliers and has set a target of raising Skr50 million in revenue for 2017.
Alongside SEB's investment, Leasify has raised a further Skr5 million from existing investors NFT Ventures and angel Daniel Andersson. The latest package of financing follows two earlier rounds totalling Skr0.7 million.
Filip Petersson, investment manager at SEB Ventures says: "This solution simplifies and creates transparency in a market that companies perceive as tricky and complex. Companies get easier procurement and lower costs, suppliers have a new sales channel and Leasify can develop their business by digitising a market that is currently characterised by manual labour and low transparency."
In November, SEB's venture arm laid out $1.6 million in Now Interact, a local startup that has built a machine learning-based platform that helps firms predict customer need for advice over digital channels. Other investments by the bank this year include blockchain payments outfit Coinify and PFM startup Tink.