The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing inRiver AB, a Swedish developer of cloud computing based product information management software (PIM), with EUR 8 million in financing to boost the company’s competitiveness in a fast growing market. The transaction comes under the European Growth Finance Facility which benefits from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe.
Product information management software is a crucial tool to overcome the scale and complexity digital channels create for companies operating in the retail sector. The demand for such software is steadily increasing. The EIB financing enables inRiver to invest in research and development, expand its market reach and further grow its customer base, which includes international blue-chip companies such as Volvo, Intersport, Fujifilm, Skullcandy and others.
“Access to finance for fast-growing and early-stage companies is key to fostering competitiveness and digitalisation in Europe,” said Romualdo Massa Bernucci, Director for EIB lending in the Nordic countries. “We are glad to support inRiver’s RDI and growth strategy: it’s companies like this that help to enhance Europe’s position as a major technology supplier and that create quality jobs across the continent.”
“Being the first provider of cloud-based product information management capabilities has led to very strong growth for inRiver, both in Europe and North America,” said Niclas Mollin, inRiver’s CEO. “This financing will allow us to further accelerate our growth and deliver even greater capabilities to marketing teams worldwide.”
The deal with inRiver is special in that it makes use of the EIB quasi-equity product, which had no market precedent prior to 2015. Quasi-equity combines the advantages of a long term loan with a remuneration model that is based on the company’s performance. Any such transaction helps to strengthen the borrower’s economic capital without diluting the shares of existing investors. The Investment Plan for Europe allows the EIB to provide quasi-equity and thereby step-up investment into highly innovative companies that previously would not have been eligible for EIB financing.
Press contacts:
Jan Wnendt, +352 (0) 4379 82227, j.wnendt@eib.org