Helping Norwegian SMEs through growth-funding
Growth is important to all companies, but particularly so to startups and SMEs. Funding is a significant, but not the sole factor that enables growth. These companies also need an attractive product or service, they need customers, and last but not least they need partners and a community that will cheer them on and believe in their success. This is exactly what Monner facilitates through crowdlending.
Monner AS was founded by Jarle Holm and David Baum to facilitate growth and funding for Norwegian SMEs. Crowdfunding provides more investors with the opportunity to make a difference in the economic growth of local communities and industries they are passionate about. “We quickly decided that we wanted to work with a bank, as Monner was not going to be a competitor to banks – rather complement them,” explains CEO, Jarle.
In February 2017, after a full year of negotiations with SR-Bank, a mutual agreement was secured, and SR-Bank invested in Monner. “Sparebank 1 SR-Bank was our first choice as an investor and partner as they are known for being innovative and caring when it comes to local business growth, which aligned very well with our vision for Monner” states Jarle.
As the first licensed service of its kind in Norway, Monner launched in January 2018 with thousands waiting to invest and hundreds ready to apply for funding – giving the company a flying start. In April 2018, they applied for a securities license to provide equity-crowdfunding as well, which led to the founding of Vester AS consisting of Monner AS and Kapp Securities later that year.
“SR-Bank aligned 100% with our vision of development”, CEO, Jarle
In July 2019, Jarle and the Vester AS board officially sold Monner AS to SR-Bank – consequently becoming the first hybrid platform for growth and banking services, fast-forwarding the scale-up and making a national commitment to the funding of SMEs in Norway.
We quickly decided that we wanted to work with a bank, as Monner was not going to be a competitor to banks - rather complement them.
