Founded: July 2015 

Products: An independent platform for loans, private placements, bonds and direct loans that handles both investor and borrower portfolios. Apart from matching borrowers and investors, it offers investment process automation, market data, portfolio tools and advice.

Overview: The premise of Loanboox is simple: introduce debt capital market borrowers to matching investors on an independent digital platform. By using the P2P concept in this way, it creates some interesting (and given the current status of market liquidity) much needed diversification in lender and borrower portfolios.

In partnering with some big names in the financial sector to provide services such as market making (Deutsche Bank), credit ratings (Independent Credit View), paying agency (Société Générale), and corporate finance advisory (PwC), Loanboox has added weight to its offering since it kicked off with CHF100k (€93k) of seed funding in 2015. 

By digitalising debt financing and investing, the platform enables borrowers to reach the current 500 or so banks, insurance companies, pension funds and other institutional investors that are now using the site. Conversely, these investors have access to a claimed 2500+ municipalities, cities, public-sector organisations and corporates in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, The Netherlands, France and Switzerland.

Loanboox’ USP is that the tendering process, from transaction request to closure, is fully digital. On the loans side, following a standard KYC on-boarding process, borrowers register by uploading basic financial data. A loan request requires the user to enter duration, amount and date the funding is needed. Investors are then notified and those interested will submit their best offer along with their proposed terms. Borrowers then review, accepting their preferred offer, paying one basis point (0.01%) per maturity-year of the funding. The service is free for investors.

Loanboox says the whole process is transparent, referring to ‘audit-proof final documentation’. All data is managed in Switzerland, and platform access is protected by 2-factor authentication. All programming and development of the platform is carried out in-house in Zurich.

Apart from matchmaking, Loanboox also offers investors the possibility to better understand pricing trends, thus optimise their investment strategy using comprehensive market data. Automation of investment processes is also through API integration.

For borrowers, Loanboox has introduced a portfolio tool enabling easier management of debts. Additionally, advisory services are targeted at helping big ticket borrowers understand, manage and structure debt more efficiently.

Clients: Claims over 3,500 clients including public-sector authorities, banks, large corporations and institutional investors. As of Feb 2022, it had processed financing requests of over €65bn.

Active region(s): Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, The Netherlands, France and Switzerland. Further countries are served out of Switzerland / Germany.

Partners: Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Kreditbank, La NEF, Independent Credit View, IFBC, Kepler Chevraux, Incore, Société Générale, Bridport & Co, PwC, First 

Employees: 50 employees in five countries

Funding: Loanboox has raised a total of CHF30m (€28m) in funding over six rounds. Its latest funding was raised on Jan 30, 2019 from a Series B round. Roland Berger, Deutsche Kreditbank and LGT Group are the most recent investors, amongst others.

Ownership: 70% of shares are still in the hands of founders, employees and advisory board members.

Elevator pitch: “Loanboox is the leading debt financing platform. In contrast to conventional brokering, financing and investing through Loanboox is simple, transparent, safe and low cost, benefiting both borrowers and investors alike. Apart from matching investors and borrowers, clients profit from market data, investment process automation, portfolio tools, a white lable-offering, and advisory services. Since the go-live in September 2016, the platform has dealt with a volume request over €65bn. Over 3000 cities, communities and corporations, as well as 500 institutional investors and banks, are on Loanboox. The platform is available in several European countries.”

Website: www.loanboox.com

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +41 55 220 7820

TMI view: This company appears to be well-funded and managed. It has a sizeable number of clients regularly using a platform that is subject to continued in-house development. Its tight regional focus may put off some borrowers beyond its current catchment area, but it is sensibly growing in the markets it knows best and may yet look to expand further into Europe. It has already attracted some impressive partners. 

Verdict: One to watch