Romanian online microfinancing startup Instant Factoring to expand to Serbia

Romanian online microfinancing startup Instant Factoring said on Thursday that it will expand its operations to Serbia using part of a 750,000 euro ($907,400) capital injection, seenews.com announced quoting the company.

The company will use some 350,000 euro from the capital hike to launch operations in Serbia, it said in a press release.

The equity financing round was subscribed by the current shareholders of Instant Factoring with the aim to fuel the fast expansion of the start-up.

“We chose Serbia as the first foreign market for expansion, first due to the similarity with the Romanian market. The lack of alternative financing solutions for small and medium enterprises outside the banking system, the size of the market, but also the political stability were factors that determined us to consider it as an optimal option,” Instant Factoring co-founder and CEO Cristian Ionescu said.

In Serbia, the company’s financing goal for next year is 5 million euro.

Over 50% of the capital injection will be used to increase the financing capacity of Romanian small companies and micro-enterprises (SMEs) by attracting additional loan funds. The company will provide an annual financing volume on factoring of approximately 45 million euro to support the development of 1,500 SMEs.

“The pandemic increased the need for liquidity of small and medium companies in Romania, and online factoring was a solution for them to ensure the cash flow necessary to continue the activity in such a difficult period,” Ionescu added.

Launched in 2018, Instant Factoring is at fintech online factoring company in Romania that supports the development of small companies and micro-enterprises through fast financing solutions.