SpareBank 1 Østlandet joins forces with Froda to accelerate embedded lending for small businesses

By integrating Froda Embedded, SpareBank 1 Østlandet will offer small businesses a more seamless and accessible financing experience. Financing becomes part of the existing customer journey, reducing friction and manual steps while enabling the bank to serve a broader segment of the SME market.

‍

"This partnership is a major step for us and shows where embedded finance is heading. For a long time, banks and fintechs have worked in parallel. Now, even the most established banks are ready for this shift. It shows that the technology is ready, the regulatory integration works, and that established banks see embedded lending as the path to reaching small businesses they haven't been able to serve profitably before,” says Olle Lundin, co-founder and CEO at Froda.

‍

The partnership addresses a long-standing challenge in SME finance: high operational costs have long made small-ticket lending inefficient for banks, leaving many viable businesses underserved. This is one of the factors contributing to Europe’s SME financing gap, which already amounts to €400 billion. By combining the 180-year-old trust and scale of SpareBank 1 Østlandet with the automation and data-driven intelligence of Froda Embedded, the integration opens up a segment of the small business market that has been difficult to reach with existing systems.

‍

“The financial solutions of the future are often created through the interaction between experienced professional environments and new technology. By building ecosystems rather than silos, we can combine the bank’s trust and expertise with the innovative strength and scalability of fintech companies such as Froda. Together, we make it easier for small businesses to gain rapid access to capital and solutions that meet customer needs – today and tomorrow,” says Christian Fjestad, Executive Vice President, Technology and Development at SpareBank 1 Østlandet.

‍

The solution leverages Froda's existing partnership with Visa, using Visa Direct to enable instant disbursement of approved funds and automated repayments. The partnership is set to launch by the end of Q1 2026. Froda has stated its ambition to expand to additional Norwegian banks. The announcement follows a year of strong growth for Froda, including a €20 million Series C round and the addition of six new embedded lending partners. With its first traditional bank partnership now signed, the company's partner base spans fintechs, platforms, and established banking institutions across the Nordics, the UK, Ireland, and Germany.

‍

About SpareBank 1 Østlandet

SpareBank 1 Østlandet is the country’s fourth largest savings bank group, with more than 1 300 competent and proud employees. Over 180 years, the Bank has built a solid market position in Eastern Norway by being accessible and providing services to individuals and businesses in both rural and urban markets. Today, the Bank is physically present with a broad network of offices in Oslo, Akershus, Buskerud, Østfold and Innlandet. Through the Bank’s subsidiaries, the SpareBank 1 Alliance’s affiliated product companies, and ownership interests in Fremtind Insurance, the Bank is a complete financial services provider for both retail and corporate customers. The Bank is listed on the stock exchange and has its head office in Hamar. For generations, SpareBank 1 Østlandet has contributed to value creation in Eastern Norway, and the vision is to continue developing the region.

About Froda
Founded in 2015, Froda set out to redefine business financing by making it accessible, efficient, and empowering for small and medium-sized enterprises. Through digital processes and technological innovation, Froda has shortened the loan process from months to minutes, making it easy for entrepreneurs to invest in their ideas and grow with ease. Today, Froda is one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintech scaleups. With a strategic focus on embedded financing, Froda has expanded across the Nordics, the UK, Ireland and Germany, partnering with industry leaders like Visa, Checkout.com, Lunar. Froda is a licensed credit market company under the supervision of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority.