Feelsgood, the first Croatian VC for impact investing, backed the domestic startup for financial advice and lending BE-ON with €1.3M. The news comes two weeks after the fund invested €1.2M in the Croatian AI platform developing autonomous systems Mindsmiths.
BE-ON aims to help financially excluded citizens deal with their obligations to credits and regain access to the financial market. The startup plans to use the investment for the expansion of its activities in consumer lending.
“This is a significant investment and recognition for what we have been doing for three years – we are helping citizens regain their personal financial freedom and get out of the vicious circle. What distinguishes us from other financial advisors is that our solution helps users immediately pay their obligations to creditors to allow them to quickly get out of financial exclusion and increase their quality of life,” Sabine Gradistanac Skrgatic, CEO of BE-ON, said in a press release.
Feelsgood Social Impact Investment Fund has €30M assets under management and is the first Croatian VC that is founded and managed by an entirely domestic team. The fund targets Croatian and Slovenian SMEs which are focused on providing environmental and social impact.
In essence, BE-ON provides financial consulting to citizens who have financial difficulties such as over-indebtedness. . The main users of BE-ON are people who have become financially excluded due to their inability to meet their obligations to creditors on a regular basis. The startup acts as a credit intermediary and possesses legal approvals to offer consumer lending.
By using the solution of the Croatian startup, people who already have regular incomes are able to restructure their obligations, gain control over personal finances, and be included in the financial market once again.
BE-ON offers free workshops as well as individual analyzes upon scheduled appointments with the financial advisors of the company.
It all begins with the restructuring process during which together with each client BE-ON makes a real picture of the financial situation, income, and liabilities of the financially excluded people.
In addition, the users of BE-ON are able to download a certificate of mediation in consumer lending from the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia.
Source: https://therecursive.com/croatian-financial-consultancy-startup-be-on-raises-e1-3m-from-feelsgood-to-solve-financial-exclusion/
