Press

Froda, a leading Nordic fintech, and Lunar, the digital challenger bank, are thrilled to announce the expansion of their partnership into Sweden. This builds upon their successful launch in Denmark in 2023, where Froda’s embedded SME lending solution was introduced to Lunar’s customers. Now, Swedish customers will gain access and benefit from the same innovative lending solution.

Sweden continues to be a key player in the EU’s innovation landscape, ranking as the second-most innovative country. However, small businesses, which represent over 50% of Sweden’s GDP, face mounting challenges, particularly in accessing financing. In 2024, over 10,000 limited liability companies filed for bankruptcy, marking the highest rate in a decade. The changing economic climate and difficulties in obtaining loans from traditional banks make it even harder for small businesses to realize their ideas, which in turn is slowing down Sweden’s growth and competitiveness.

“Small businesses are the driving force behind Sweden’s economy and innovation. Without access to capital, we risk losing crucial momentum. This partnership reflects our shared commitment to empowering small businesses by blending cutting-edge fintech innovation with the digital banking solutions of tomorrow,” says Olle Lundin, CEO of Froda.

A new standard for SME financing

With Froda’s Embedded Lending platform and Visa’s global card infrastructure, Lunar’s Swedish customers can now access quick and flexible business loans directly through the Lunar-app. Funds are disbursed in seconds, and repayments are automatically processed via card transactions. The entire process is fully digital, removing the traditional barriers of long wait times and complex requirements.

“Beyond offering affordable bank accounts and great service, loans are the most requested product among our business customers. Together with Froda, we aim to make it easier for small businesses to grow, and we’re excited to expand our collaboration in Sweden,” says Mats Persson Bergius, Chief Commercial Officer at Lunar.

The embedded lending offering will be available to Lunar’s Swedish customers starting in February 2025. With this partnership, Froda and Lunar set a new benchmark for business financing in Sweden – fast, transparent, and fair, giving small businesses the tools to thrive on their own terms.

About Froda
Founded in 2015, Froda set out to redefine business financing by making it accessible, efficient and empowering for small and medium-sized businesses. Froda is creating opportunities for all business owners, regardless of background, to turn their ideas into reality. By leveraging digital and technological innovation, Froda has transformed the loan process from months to minutes, ensuring that financing is not just fast and efficient, but also inclusive and on fair terms. Today, Froda is one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintech scaleups. With a strategic focus on embedded finance, Froda has expanded across the Nordics, the UK, Ireland and Germany, partnering with industry leaders like Visa, Checkout.com and Lunar. Froda is a licensed credit institution under the supervision of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. For more information, visit Froda

About Lunar
Lunar is a digital challenger bank dedicated to simplifying and enriching people’s financial lives by creating the best everyday bank in the Nordics. Founded in Aarhus, Denmark, Lunar employs around 400 people across the Nordic region. In 2019, Lunar received its banking license and has since become one of the few banks with a Nordic banking platform. Today, over 950,000 private and business customers across the Nordics use Lunar. Find out more at www.lunar.app.

Froda, a leading provider in SME financing, has strengthened its partnership with the European Investment Fund (EIF), by securing an additional lending capacity of €100 million. This builds on an existing €50 million guarantee, bringing the total to €150 million and extending Froda’s financing reach across all 27 EU member states. The agreement marks Froda as the first company to establish an EU-wide microfinance partnership with the EIF, providing critical financing support to SMEs across Europe.

The SME financing gap in Europe is estimated at €400 billion, with many small businesses struggling to access the financing needed to grow and compete. To address this, EIF leverages various guarantee programs to expand financing options for SMEs. Since 2022, Froda has partnered with the EIF to improve access to financing for micro-enterprises, businesses with fewer than ten employees, in Sweden. Froda has already demonstrated the effectiveness of its financing model, where SMEs financed through Froda experienced an average growth of 131% within their first year after receiving financing.

With €150 million in lending guarantees, Froda aims to replicate the efforts in Sweden on a wider scale to 10,000 SMEs across Europe, driving economic growth and innovation, while addressing the financing gap for microenterprises with limited access to fair financing. This agreement positions Froda to extend its reach across Europe, empowering SMEs to thrive in a more interconnected and supportive financial ecosystem.

"The extended support from EIF represents a pivotal step in our mission to unlock growth opportunities for SMEs throughout Europe. By enabling our Embedded partners to expand into new markets, this partnership is set to transform the landscape of SME financing. Our vision is to create a financing ecosystem that fosters cross-border expansion for both Froda and our partners," says Olle Lundin, CEO and co-founder of Froda.

Froda and EIF share a vision of building a robust financing ecosystem for small businesses across Europe. The new agreement expands opportunities for Froda Embedded partners, enabling them to provide EIF-backed loans across the EU. By scaling innovative financial solutions, the partnership supports EIF's mission to promote microfinance, entrepreneurship, and inclusive growth, while advancing the EU’s goals of digitalization and equitable access to financing. As the first company to secure a microfinance guarantee covering all member states, Froda is addressing the SME financing gap, empowering underserved microbusinesses and strengthening Europe’s financial ecosystem.

"The InvestEU program is built to provide scalable, impactful solutions for microfinancing. We’ve witnessed how EIF’s targeted guarantees in Sweden have enabled Froda to unlock growth for micro-enterprises. Expanding this model across the EU, I am confident that our strengthened partnership will build a robust, sustainable financing infrastructure that supports Europe’s entrepreneurial backbone," says Marjut Falkstedt, CEO of EIF.

Since 2021, Froda has focused on developing embedded finance solutions as the cornerstone of its international expansion. By partnering with banks, payment providers and fintechs, Froda offers white-label SME lending services that integrate seamlessly into partners’ platforms, enabling them to offer

business loans directly to their clients. The extended support from the EIF not only amplifies Froda’s capacity to scale its lending capabilities, but also solidifies its role as a leading European player in microfinancing.

About Froda
Founded in 2015, Froda set out to redefine business financing by making it accessible, efficient, and empowering for small and medium-sized enterprises. Through digital processes and technological innovation, Froda has shortened the loan process from months to minutes, making it easy for entrepreneurs to invest in their ideas and grow with ease. Today, Froda is one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintech scaleups. With a strategic focus on embedded financing, Froda has expanded across the Nordics, the UK, Ireland and Germany, partnering with industry leaders like Visa, Checkout.com, Lunar. Froda is a licensed credit market company under the supervision of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. For more information, visit Froda.

About EIF
The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. The EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, the EIF fosters EU objectives in support of sustainability, innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth and employment.

Froda and Juni are two of Sweden's leading fintech companies. The two companies are now joining forces, entering into a partnership as Juni joins Froda Embedded. The partnership represents a long-term investment in embedded finance that begins with Juni integrating Froda's technical platform and utilizing Froda's capital pool.

Both companies share the vision of helping as many entrepreneurs as possible gain access to financing on favorable terms. Europe alone has more than 25 million SMEs, but access to financing remains one of the biggest obstacles for smaller businesses looking to grow. The partnership aims to make financing more accessible, thereby enabling more businesses to invest and grow.

"The journey Juni has taken and how far they've come in such a short time is truly impressive. I've followed the company since its inception, so it's especially exciting that they have chosen Froda Embedded to continue scaling, and that Froda can be a part of their growth journey," says Olle Lundin, CEO and co-founder of Froda.

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

The neobank Juni has come along way since its start in 2020 with the ambition to create the global business bank of the future. Juni gives businesses and finance teams modern banking solutions, spend management, financing and accounting on one powerful platform and app. With low FX fees and flexible financing Juni wants to make it easier for businesses to operate on a global scale. The company has plans to apply for a bank license for further expansion.

"Froda's license and expertise in SME lending make them the perfect partner for us. We wanted 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 businesses," says Samir El-Sabini, CEO and Co-founder at Juni.

Both Froda and Juni were founded with the vision of helping entrepreneurs through various financing solutions. The collaboration initially means that Froda becomes a financing partner, giving Juni the opportunity to use Froda's capital pool for its services through embedded financing.