State Portfolio Guarantees Enter Crowdfunding: €5.3 Million in Business Lending
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lithuania are gaining new alternative financing opportunities.
The investment and financing platform “Savy”, in cooperation with the national development bank ILTE, is introducing a state portfolio guarantee mechanism for business loans. This marks the first case in Lithuania where a crowdfunding platform is integrated into the state portfolio guarantee system, with the measure being applied to loans financed by investors’ funds. Under the signed agreement, up to €5.3 million in loans may be issued through the “Savy” platform by 2032.
State portfolio guarantees mean that the guarantee is applied not to an individual loan, but to an entire loan portfolio. This enables lenders to finance a broader range of companies, particularly those that have previously faced limited access to financing due to insufficient collateral. For SMEs, this creates more opportunities to obtain loans for working capital,
investments, or expansion, while allowing decisions to be made faster and under more flexible conditions.
“SMEs often face a situation where they have ideas and a desire to grow, but traditional financing remains difficult to access. Portfolio guarantees help reduce this gap and open up real opportunities for companies that may lack collateral but have operating businesses and clear plans,” says Silvija Kažukauskaitė, Chief Operating Officer of “Savy”.
Giedrė Gečiauskienė, Member of the Board of the national development bank ILTE and Head of the Client Financing Department, emphasizes that SMEs in Lithuania still frequently encounter limited access to financing, particularly when banks require sufficient collateral or apply conservative risk assessments.
“Portfolio guarantees allow financial institutions to finance companies more confidently, while enabling businesses to raise the necessary funds for both investments and working capital needs more quickly and easily,” says Gečiauskienė, noting that such mechanisms help increase the availability of SME financing in the market.
Loans Financed by Investors’ Funds
A key distinguishing feature of this partnership is that the loans will not be issued using “Savy’s” or a bank’s own funds, but rather through the capital of platform investors. This means that all interest paid by borrowers is returned directly to investors, while the state portfolio guarantee serves as an additional safeguard that helps reduce risk.
“This model allows investors to directly participate in business financing and earn returns, while benefiting from a state-provided risk mitigation mechanism. It not only increases investor confidence but also sets a precedent for the entire market – crowdfunding becomes an integrated and recognized part of the state financing ecosystem, benefiting both businesses and investors,” says Kažukauskaitė.