A SME Finance Forum member, European Investment Bank Group (EIB), announced that it will provide €18.5 million to back a joint investment fund designed to lend money to SMEs through the crowdlending platform Lendix. Funding through the European Investment Fund (EIF), this is the second deployment of EIF funds through a lending marketplace to support small businesses. The initial release came after a 2016 investment in Funding Circle of the UK. It is the first marketplace lending investment in Continental Europe.

Bruno Lemaire, The French Minister of the Economy and Finance, welcomed the deal as consistent with the priorities of the French Government to support SMEs, innovation, and Europe. The investment fund associated with the Lendix platform now has a total capacity of €90 million, credited to EIF contribution.