Berlin’s CrossLend raises €35 million for digital debt marketplace

German fintech CrossLend has announced a €35 million Series B round led by Santander InnoVentures with support from existing investors Earlybird, ABN Amro Ventures, and Lakestar. The investment will accelerate the company in its mission to make the world’s capital markets more efficient. Founded in 2014, the Berlin-based startup provides a digital debt marketplace for consumer, SME, invoices, mortgages, and other forms of debts from banks and alternative lenders. CEO and founder of CrossLend Oliver Schimek explained: “Well-functioning debt capital markets are crucial for stability in Europe, yet investment banking in debt markets has mostly remained undisrupted by digitisation until now. The arteries of our financial system are increasingly threatening to clog, leading to severe economic restrictions for companies and individuals in Europe. CrossLend re-wires the debt market in the spirit of the European capital markets union.” By making the assets available to a wide range of institutional investors, more capital flows into Europe’s economy and makes the lending and investment ecosystem more efficient, transparent, and profitable. “CrossLend has the potential to disrupt the lending ecosystem by making debt trading more transparent and efficient, while at the same time unleashing capital on a global scale. Asset Backed Securities (ABS) could finally lose their stigma of being opaque and highly toxic,” said Christian Nagel, partner at Earlybird. Schimek continued: “We are pleased about the long-term confidence of our investors. With their support, we are now taking an important step to further expanding our services to banks, investment funds, and insurance companies.”