A Vilnius-based lender to small companies has expanded its funding base with a UK private capital firm, a signal that non-bank credit is filling a gap European banks have left open.
Pollen Street added €20M to an existing senior secured facility, taking the total to €55M. Finbee Verslui will use the extra capacity to raise its maximum business loan from €250,000 to €800,000, stretch repayment terms and sharpen pricing. The two firms began working together in July 2024.
The timing tracks a deteriorating picture for smaller borrowers. The European Central Bank’s July 2026 survey of enterprise access to finance showed a net share of SMEs reporting reduced access to bank loans during the second quarter, with the financing gap widening compared with the previous three months.
That squeeze has handed specialist lenders a larger addressable market. Finbee competes for companies that are too small or too young for a comfortable corporate banking relationship but too established for founder savings and grants.
Debt facilities like this one have become the standard growth tool for European business lenders, because warehouse lines and forward-flow agreements let a young platform scale origination without diluting shareholders.
Neither company disclosed the cost of capital on the expanded facility or the target for total origination in the next twelve months.
