- First EIB support for the company will boost its R&D centre in Athens at a crucial stage of organisation’s development
- The European Investment Bank (EIB) will support the investment program in the form of EUR 14.3 million loan over 5 years
- EIB support expected to create more than 100 full-time jobs, the majority of which will be tech positions for software developers.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a EUR 14.3 million venture debt facility with OneDealer International, an automotive software solutions company based in Athens, Greece. The financing is supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.
OneDealer International develops cutting-edge, all-in-one automotive solutions for car dealers of all sizes (importers, dealerships, OEMs and car repair shops) to manage their whole business more efficiently. Essentially, the new financing comes in the form of a 5-year loan and will support the company’s efforts to expand and accelerate its Research and Development operations in Greece, continuing the development of its technology and to scale organically and geographically.
This new investment, the EIB’s first transaction with the company, will help specifically to finance OneDealer's software development capabilities in Greece, and help it to further develop its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions for innovative automotive sales and after-sales processes to increase competitiveness.
The cooperation between EIB and OneDealer International, which is part of Real Consulting Group, a leading SAP Solution Provider, was announced at Amalia 36 in Athens on Thursday November 24, during a signing ceremony of the loan agreement by Christian Kettel Thomsen, EIB Vice-President, and OneDealer CEO Robert Battenstein.
“OneDealer is today proud and privileged to be part of the European Investment Bank’s Venture Debt family. This financing will help us create more jobs in ICT, one of the most important and fast-growing sectors of the Greek economy. Together we shall be promoting skills and innovation in software research and development that will help build a strong and sustainable ICT sector for Europe. We are grateful for all the hard work and effort that has culminated in today’s agreement,” said OneDealer CEO Robert Battenstein.
“The European Investment Bank is pleased to provide EUR 14.3 million of support to a new Greek partner, and to an innovative SME which aims to be at the forefront of its industry no less. We believe the EIB financing will allow the company to finance its visionary investment plan at a vital time, help to foster its growth and market penetration after some difficult times during the pandemic, while also creating new jobs in Greece contributing to economic growth and competitiveness,” said EIB Vice-President Christian Kettel Thomsen.
Based in Germany with offices in Greece and Austria, OneDealer International was established in 2015 with the mission to help automotive retail businesses thrive in today’s digital market. OneDealer is an SME that offers a disruptive software solution to help car dealers of all sizes to manage their whole business more efficiently.
Although headquartered in Koblenz, Germany, OneDealer has a very strong presence in Greece. It has set up an R&D centre in Athens where it already employs all of its software developers. As a result of the new financing, OneDealer aims to grow its R&D subsidiary with a total of up to 70 new jobs projected to be created.
The EIB financing, which comes under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI, the predecessor of InvestEU), will also enable OneDealer International to accelerate R&D expenditures following a period where the company has been seeing high growth after its sales were hampered due to the pandemic.
Over the last decade the European Investment Bank has provided EUR 8 billion for private sector business investment across Greece.
OneDealer International
OneDealer is an innovative cloud software company committed to automotive retail digitalization. The company offers OEMs, Importers and Dealer Groups a platform to automate and optimize their customer facing and sales and after sales processes through embracing digital transformation.
