ArK Kapital announces a US$152mn extension to lending pool

Swedish fintech ArK Kapital has announced an extension to its Lending pool following events taking place in the current economic climate. 

The fintech, which was launched in 2021, enables startups to grow by providing frictionless long-term loads based on risk-assessed data. The financing company’s services allow founders to maintain control of their startup, while the loan conditions also reduce the risk for investors. 

According to reports, the US$152mn extension to the lending pool has been introduced as a response to strong traction in the Nordic markets and will be used to help drive European expansions. 

The $152mn extension also means ArK Kapital can offer over $300mn in loans to European technology founders. Data shows that the initial $168mn seed round was $152mn debt-based and $15m equity-based. The equity portion of the round was led by LocalGlobe, with participation from Creandum and angel investors including founders of iZettle, Supercell, King, and EQT Ventures. This extension comes as a response to strong traction in the Nordic markets and will be used to help fuel European expansion.

Lending based on AI analytics

ArK is the only capital player that has the confidence to lend with the type of risk posed by the growth loan, which is attributed to an artificial intelligence (AI) maturity rarely found in the capital market. 

The fintech was launched by CEO Oliver Hildebrandt, veteran banker Axel Bruzelius (COO), and Spotify’s ex-VP of Analytics and former EQT Ventures partner Henrik Landgren (CPTO). 

Henrik helped build Motherbrain, EQT Ventures’ AI platform that reveals promising yet under-the-radar investment opportunities. The solution offers AI-based tailor-made loans lasting up to seven years.

ArK Kapital enables fast growth for early-stage, tech-driven companies without losing equity by using its AI platform – the ArK Intelligence Machine (AIM) – to analyse a company’s business health and design custom loans with fair terms, The platform also shares daily updates of its analytics and insights in a borrower dashboard, so companies can optimise their business performance through ArK’s API – expanding access to top-level data science. 

A solution for cash-strapped tech startups

Speaking about the latest move, Landgren explained, “We find ourselves right in the eye of the current storm. We are honestly the only ones that offer a real option for equity funding, with big loans stretching over several years. That is why more money is being put into our pocket this early on, as the demand is so high. Getting funding from us should however not be seen as a rescue package, but a sign of strength. We take a DNA-test of companies' growth; if they get a loan, it means that they are showing the type of growth the whole capital market is scouting for.”

Hildebrandt added,  "AIM, and our AI-driven, always-connected approach to underwriting seems to be exactly what the financial markets have been waiting for, which makes it possible for us to onboard more and more financial partners to the AIM platform, unlocking more growth money for the European founder community."