SBT Venture Capital, the venture arm of Russia’s national savings bank Sberbank, has invested $5 million in fintech service Advanced Merchant Payments (AMP).
AMP’s platform allows banks to offer unsecured short-term loans to small businesses, using data analysis to decide whether to offer loans to businesses without a credit history. It was founded in 2009 and is based in Hong Kong, with offices in Singapore and the Philippines. The company plans to use the funds in order to enter new markets.
“We are very excited about this investment and look forward to helping AMP expand their footprint globally. AMP combines disruption and innovation in a traditional banking space, enabling financial institutions to serve the high growth potential SME lending business,” said SBT Venture Capital partner Matteo Rizzi.
Sberbank announced back in 2012 the launch of a $100 million fund to invest in Russian and foreign startups. In 2013, SBT participated in a $12 million Series B for Sequent Software, a California-based firm specializing in the development of mobile-commerce software. Then, SBT took part in a Series A round worth 3 million euros for Walkbase, a Finnish startup that publishes a retail-analytics solution.
The fund also invested in British fintech startup Red Zebra Analytics and London-based accelerator Startupbootcamp in February and April of this year respectively. In June, STB led a $8 million investment round in American banking app Moven. In July it invested in Swedish company NetGuardians.
Source: RusBase.vc, Firrma.ru