The Venture Codex

Participated · Equity · Feb 2024

Finloup is a Greek-founded startup offering monthly leasing of electronic devices to customers ranging from sole proprietorships and freelancers to SMEs and large organisations. Founded in 2020 by CEO Antonis Prentzas and CFO Marios Noutsos, the company pivoted from a consumer BNPL model about a year and a half ago to focus on B2B leasing and strengthening clients' ESG indicators. Its service enables companies to free up funds, access up-to-date devices at lower cost, and redirect capital to growth activities. Finloup plans to use the new capital to expand market presence, particularly targeting startups and business customers. Financially, the company secured over €1M in the recent round and previously raised €1M in a 2021 pre-seed for product and business development. Current investors include Velocity Partners, Genesis Ventures, UAE-based Praxia Capital, and a number of business angels. Finloup is a Greek BNPL startup that offers interest-free, commission-based installment payments to consumers while charging merchants a commission on basket size and no upfront fees. Its core product uses a proprietary credit-scoring methodology that leverages open-banking data alongside proprietary and third-party data to predict consumer affordability. Since launching in 2020 the company has partnered with 21 merchants in Greece, including Funky Buddha, and reports a 40% increase in average consumer baskets in the months it has been operating. With the new funding Finloup plans to onboard at least 200 businesses within 12–18 months and expand into neighboring Southeast European markets. The team is prioritizing markets enabled by open banking, covered by existing customers, and supported by local startup investors.