Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Prestiamoci raises €550k in seed funding from Digital Magics and a group of angel investors

Milan, 30th October 2013 - Prestiamoci the only Italian startup having a license, as holding company, released by the Bank of Italy for the management of a online P2P lending platform, has raised €190k as part of a €550k capital increase from Digital Magics, the certified venture incubator of innovative startups listed at the AIM Italia segment of the Italian stock exchange, along with Italian and international investors. Thank to the Prestiamoci web platform, investor can lend resources to private persons and companies in a very transparent way, with the professional skills in the credit management typic of the banking system. As of today, Digital Magics, holds 25,61% (€190k) of Agata Spa, the company under which operates the brand name Prestiamoci.

The operation saw the participation of different investors of the Angel Network of Digital Magics - which cooperate with the incubator in the startups' selection, mentorship and co-investment - as well as important private and institutional European and American experts in the field P2P lending on a global level. At the investment round took part also previous lenders who continue to support the business idea of Prestiamoci.





Among investors of the Angel Network participated: Marco Valerio Bellini, Johan BodeFinancial Manager and Partner at KPMG Advisory, Pietro Boroli, Chairman of De Agostini Editore, Luca Fabio Giacometti, former CEO of GE Capital Equity Italy and co- founder of SPAC MadeInItaly1 and advisor to Digital Magics, Luigi Lanari, former Partner of CVC Capital Partners, Dario Levi, former President of ABN AMRO Corporate Finance, Giordano Martinelli, former Head of equity investments at Anima SGR and now founder of AcomeA SGR, Stefano Miccinellifounder of Investitori Associati SGR, one of the most important Italian private equity companies, and Lodovico Rosnati, former Director of the Equity Market Division of the Italian Stock Exchange.

In addition to investing on it, Digital Magics strengthens Prestiamoci with the provision of high-profile incubation services, such as strategic and technological business management, by inserting within the team qualified professionals specialized in the management of scalable businesses, but also with financial and digital support contributing to the development of the platform to make the company's products more competitive and innovative for the market.

Michele Novelli, New Partner at Digital Magics, was in charge of the initiative taking care of the design of the new business plan, investor relationships and the evolution of the transaction. For the startup phase Novelli also had the role of Managing Director of Prestiamoci (commercial brand Agata S.p.A.) with the consent of all shareholders . As president has been confirmed Daniele Loro, a former Partner at Andersen and managing director of financial boutique Arche' Advisor, and as Advisor Stefano Miari, ex Vice President of Morgan Stanley and of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The corporate governance reserves Digital Magics the right to appoint at least one member of the board of directors and the Managing Director, and also an effective statutory auditor. 

BUSINESS MODEL AND SUCCESS AT INTERNATIONAL LEVEL
Thanks to the web platform of Prestiamoci investors can lend capital to private persons or companies in a transparent manner with the professionalism in the management of the typical credit of the banking system. Lenders benefit from excellent yields by investing in one asset class only, while the applicants have higher affordable interest rates.

P2P lending is an innovative business model consolidated in the whole world: up today the operators in this sectors declare to have provided more than €4 billion, and in 2014 it is expected the first billion IPO of Lending Club, American leader, on which Google invested $125 million with a valuation around €1.6 billion (Source: Forbes October 2013). Lending among private persons was born in 2005 and actually are more than 30 the companies which operate in this sector, among the most famous are Lending Club, Prosper, Zopa, RateSetter, Funding Circle, Auxmoney, present in different countries such us USA, Cina, Germany, England, France, Spain and Italy.

Digital Magics is a certified venture incubator of innovative digital startups, which proposes contents and services of high technological value. Digital Magics is listed on AIM Italia, the Alternative Market of Capital dedicated to italian small and medium enterprises with high growth potential, organized and managed by the Italian stock exchange. Digital Magics builds and develops internet startups by flanking the founders, investing own resources and providing acceleration services. Part of the talents and ideas, transforming them in successful disruptive businesses in the italian and international digital economy. The incubator promotes the entrepreneurial culture and risk, thus contributing to the economic growth and the employment for the young people. Digital Magics offers services to support innovation, the birth and development of digital startups, and supports them in the search for new private and public investors, italian and international, which will finance the next development stages. The Digital Magics model is unique in Italy and is based on the Digital Magics LAB: the team that identifies, analyzes and launches the new initiatives, providing to startups services of mentorship, financial, administrative, strategic, logistic, technological and of communication and marketing, apart from the support of business management able to accelerate the process growth of the company.

Integrae SIM acted in the transaction as Nomad and Specialist pursuant the Regulation Issuers AIM Italia. For the transmission of the communications, Digital Magics avails itself of the circuit SDIR-NIS, managed by Blt Market Services, company of the London Stock Exchange Group. 

Prestiamoci - prestiamoci.it
Is the leading platform of P2P lending in Italy. A brand of property of Agata S.p.A., the company registered to the bar of financial intermediaries. Authorized in 2009 from the Bank of Italy, Prestiamoci has the target to develop the market of lending between persons (P2P) that allows investors to lend money to privates and companies. Prestiamoci eases the supply of lending with the participation of one side to the financing.