Company: Stenn
Founder: Greg Karpovsky
Website: https://stenn.com/
About Stenn
Established in 2015, Stenn is a category leading FinTech focused on SMEs engaged in international trade that are underserved by traditional banking. Its mission is to connect international SMEs to the global financial system, providing entrepreneurs and private businesses with access to best-in-class trade financing products. To date it has deployed more than $15bn globally, with over $5bn of that coming in the past year alone.
On the buyer side, Stenn assists SMEs in 74 countries engaged in international trade who have very limited access to trade finance, with the SME viewing Stenn as a principal in the transaction. On the sell side, Stenn directs capital through its technology from some of the world’s leading blue chip businesses including HSBC and Citi.
The Stenn platform connects financing institutions to SMEs that need finance, ensuring the best quality access to capital for their customers but without the burden of Stenn holding that risk on its balance sheet. Underserved SMEs that could benefit from accessing the global financial system are acquired internationally through partners, brokers, and directly through Stenn, with a particular focus on heavily underserved emerging markets including Asia, India, China, and Latin America.
Through targeting these emerging economies, Stenn is leveling-up international business, enabling and building communities of SMEs that have historically been locked out of benefiting from the global financial system. Operating within a $3.6T market, Stenn’s product increases GDP and employment in over 74 countries.
A rapidly growing business, in April 2022 Stenn secured a $50 million equity investment from investment firm Centerbridge Partners, L.P., at a valuation of $900 million. The company has also been recognised in the Financial Times 1000 Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies for 2023 and 2022. In the last 12 months, Stenn’s growth has accelerated dramatically, with almost 50% of total financing taking place in the period and platform volumes seeing more than 100% annual compound growth.
This operational growth has been matched by a 100% increase in the number of employees in the last year. This expansion has not, however, come at the cost of team culture, with Stenn having been included in the Sunday Times’ Best Places To Work List 2023.
