French FinTech Silvr has raised $148 million (130 million euros) in its Series A round of funding.
According to published reports Tuesday (Feb.8), the Paris-based company says the round — a mix of $20.5 million (18 million euros) in equity and $127.8 million (112 million euros) debt — was one of the largest funding operations in the revenue-based financing (RBF) sector in continental Europe.
Founded in 2020 by Karimi and Grégory Tappero, Silvr provides funding to online businesses that can’t get bank loans and want to raise equity capital. The RBF model bases loan repayment plans off a borrower’s future revenues.
Silver says the funds will be used to hire 100 employees this year — up from its current 20 — to support increased growth and develop its platform. The company also announced the creation of a debt fund and says it plans to seek banking partners this year.
Related news: Flexible Credit Options Help Software Startups Balance Growth, Liquidity
“This new fundraise reinforces our vision and ambition: to contribute to the growth of the digital economy in Europe thanks to our unique financing platform,” said Karimi, the firm’s CEO. “We will be able to accelerate our development thanks to the recruitment of around a hundred employees, set the first milestones in the creation of our own debt fund and develop technological partnerships with banks.”
Silvr says it raised $3.4 million (3 million euros) in seed funding last year and has backed more than 100 companies so far.
Read more: Revenue-Based Financing Challenges The Bank Loan Status Quo
“It is essential for them to be able to access funds easily to accelerate the growth of their business, without having to pay onerous counterparties,” says Silvr in a statement.
Silvr says its platform can adapt to all digital business models, including SaaS, subscription model, eCommerce, and mobile apps.
The company uses its own in-house calculator model to assess the performance of a company and its growth potential to determine financing offers. This involves analyzing a wide range of data, including single visitors, turnover, return on ad spends of paid media campaigns, attrition rates, and industry-specific data.