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On November 7, applications for the "Female Entrepreneur of the Future" scholarship will open. The grant is aimed at female entrepreneurs who are either planning to start a business, or have started a business in the last year.*

Only a quarter of all entrepreneurs in Sweden are women, which is below the EU average. Since 1980, the number of female entrepreneurs has increased by one percentage point. To encourage more women to start and run businesses, tech company Froda launched a scholarship in 2022 to give women who want to, or have just started a business, the opportunity to realize their ideas. The scholarship is awarded annually to a female entrepreneur. Previous winners of the scholarship are Miranda Matti with the homework help platform Lexflix and Janna Naser for her work with Alga Insulations.

- Sweden is below the EU average when it comes to female entrepreneurship. This is despite the fact that we are one of the most gender equal countries in the world. To break the negative trend, we need more female entrepreneurs and role models. With the scholarship, we want to help improve the conditions for female entrepreneurs and give more women the opportunity to invest in their ideas," says Olle Lundin, CEO of Froda.

To apply for the scholarship, you need to have either started a business after January 1, 2024, or have a business idea that you will start up within a year. Applications will be open until December 31, 2024 and the prize will be awarded in March 2025.

The application period for the scholarship is between November 7 - December 31, 2024.

Read more about the grant and apply here: https://www.froda.se/om-oss/event/framtidens-kvinnliga-foretagare

About the “Future Female Entrepreneurs” scholarship

Established in 2022, the Female Entrepreneur of the Future is awarded annually to a female entrepreneur. The scholarship aims to give women with ambitions to run a business a start-up capital that enables them to invest in their idea. Requirements to apply are:

• Identify as a woman
• Registered in Sweden
• Of legal age at the time of application
• The business idea or the company the participant is applying with must not have been registered with the Swedish Companies Registration Office before January 1, 2024.

* After January 1, 2024.

Increased consumer protection in the credit market has been a hot topic over the past year. Now a survey by Norstat shows that a majority of Swedes also want to see increased protection for entrepreneurs who borrow. The survey, commissioned by Froda, examines Swedes' views and knowledge of banks and credit institutions.

97% of Swedish companies are one-man businesses or companies with fewer than 10 employees, which often lack finance departments and legal expertise. Despite this, there are not as strict rules on how business loans should be presented to the customer as there are for consumer loans. This means that loan providers are largely free to choose how they market their product, present their prices and design their terms and conditions.

- In Sweden, there is extensive legislation in the field of consumer credit that protects the borrower and makes it easier for individuals to make informed decisions when borrowing money. Entrepreneurs lack this protection," says Olle Lundin, CEO and founder of Froda.

The survey shows that four out of five Swedes are not aware of the lack of proper protection for entrepreneurs who borrow. However, there is broad support for increased borrower protection in business loans. Half of all Swedes say they want to see regulation and increased protection for entrepreneurs.

- Let entrepreneurs be entrepreneurs. Just because you start your own business doesn't mean you know everything about finance. Small business owners need the same protection as private individuals when it comes to advertising for loans and what the terms of the loan look like," comments Johan Grip, Chief Economist at Företagarna.

The survey also shows that price and good terms and conditions are the most important factors for Swedes when choosing a lender. In addition, 55% state that they find it difficult to understand banks' and lenders' agreements, terms and conditions. At the same time, 19% of Swedes state that they have at some point entered into an agreement with a bank or lender without fully understanding its meaning.

As a step in helping Sweden's entrepreneurs, Froda is now launching the Financing Handbook. The aim is to educate about financial terms and what entrepreneurs should consider before taking out a loan to help them make good financing decisions.

About the survey

The survey was conducted by Norstat during the period April 22 to May 5, 2024. 1009 respondents participated in the survey. It was aimed at the target group of the general public over the age of 18 and was conducted via Norstat's nationally representative web panel.

The survey shows that:

• Low interest rates/costs (82%) and good terms (65%) are most important for Swedes when choosing a lender
• 19% of Swedes have signed a contract with a bank/credit institution without fully understanding all the terms and conditions set out in the contract.
• 55% find it difficult to understand bank contracts, terms and conditions.
• Nominal interest (34), interest differential (34) and annuity (39) are the concepts that the least number of people can understand and explain.
• 36% of Swedes do not trust banks and financial institutions to provide all the information you need to make informed decisions.
• 49% do not believe that banks and credit institutions are transparent about their fees and costs.
• 77% do not know that business loans are not regulated.
• 50% think they should be regulated, but only 6% oppose regulation.

Froda and Juni are two of Sweden's leading fintech companies. The two billion-euro companies are now entering into a partnership when Juni joins Froda Embedded. The partnership involves a long-term investment in embedded finance and begins with Juni integrating with Froda's technical platform and being able to use Froda's capital pool.

The companies share the vision of helping as many entrepreneurs as possible to access finance on good terms. There are 25 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe, yet lack of access to finance is one of the biggest obstacles for smaller companies looking to grow. The partnership aims to make finance more accessible and thus help more people to grow.

- The journey that Juni has made and how far they have come in a short time is very impressive. I have followed the company since the start and therefore it is extra fun that they now choose Froda Embedded to continue to scale and that Froda can be part of their growth journey, says Olle Lundin, CEO and co-founder of Froda.

Since its launch in 2021, Froda Embedded has become one of Europe's leading providers of embedded finance solutions for businesses. Using the company's technology platform, partners can either integrate Froda's services and offer them to their customers, or use Froda's financing to build their own financing solutions. Froda's license also makes it easy for partners to increase lending and scale quickly in Europe.

Neobank Juni has come a long way since its launch in 2020 with the ambition to create the global corporate bank of the future. Juni gives businesses and finance teams access to modern banking services, expense management, financing and automated accounting, all in one platform. With low interchange fees and flexible financing, Juni wants to make it easier for companies operating globally. Future plans include obtaining a banking license for further expansion.

- Froda's credentials and expertise in SME lending make them a perfect partner for us. We were looking for a partner that, like us, has a focus on modern solutions and technology. Through our partnership, we will be able to scale faster internationally and support more entrepreneurs," said Samir El-Sabini, CEO and co-founder of Juni.

Both Froda and Juni were founded with the vision of helping entrepreneurs with various financial solutions. The partnership initially means that Froda will be a financing partner and that Juni will have the opportunity to use Froda's capital pool for its services through embedded financing.

About Juni
Juni was founded in 2020 by Samir El-Sabini and Anders Orsedal with the ambition to create the global corporate bank of the future. Listed as the fastest growing fintech startup in Europe in 2021, Juni gives businesses and finance teams access to modern banking services, expense management, financing and automated accounting - all in one platform.

For more information about Juni, please visit: www.juni.co

About Froda
Froda was founded in 2015 with the ambition to redefine business finance by making it more accessible and efficient for SMEs. Froda creates opportunities for all entrepreneurs, regardless of background, to realize their business ideas. Using digital processes and technological innovation, Froda has revolutionized the loan process, shortening it from months to minutes - with a focus on providing fast, fair and inclusive financing.

Today, Froda is one of Europe's fastest growing tech companies, backed by investors such as Karl-Johan Persson, Nicklas Storåkers and Victor Jacobsson. In 2021, Froda launched an embedded finance initiative, through which the company has expanded to the Nordic region, the UK and Germany, and entered into partnerships with Visa, Lunar and Checkout.com, among others. As a credit market company, Froda is under the supervision of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority.

Read more about Froda