Citi and Viola Credit have provided French SME lending startup Defacto with a warehouse facility of up to €167m.

Citi is providing the senior piece and Viola Credit is providing the mezzanine facility.

The facility starts at €67m and will increase to €167m subject to Citi and Viola’s consent.

Defacto was founded in mid-2021 and provides European SMEs with invoice financing and other forms of funding. Financing tenors are up to 120 days – with an average outstanding period of 60 days. The company has so far financed €200m for 7,000 companies.

This type of warehouse facility allows young fintech companies to rapidly grow and effectively compete with incumbent bank lenders.