Key Takeaways
- • Liberis and Qred have completed their merger following approval from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (SFSA), creating a combined SMB financial platform serving more than 60,000 small businesses across 17 countries.
- • The combined group has access to approximately 11.5 million addressable merchants, pairing Qred's regulated banking license and direct customer relationships with Liberis's embedded finance network of more than 30 partners, including Deliveroo, Vagaro and Nexi.
- • Emil Sunvisson, founder and CEO of Qred, becomes Group CEO, while Rob Fairfield, CEO of Liberis, becomes Deputy CEO.
- • Both brands, products, partner integrations and customer relationships will continue as they do today, with longer-term brand plans to be shared later.
- • Nordic Capital, a private equity investor, backs the combined business as it scales technology, enters new markets and expands financial inclusion.
Summary
Liberis, a global embedded finance platform, and Qred, a Europe-based digital small business bank, announced the completion of their merger, first disclosed in June 2026, after receiving approval from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (SFSA). The combined group serves more than 60,000 small businesses across 17 countries and has access to approximately 11.5 million addressable merchants, according to the companies.
The transaction joins Qred's regulated banking capability and direct small business relationships with Liberis's embedded finance technology and distribution through more than 30 platform partners. Qred, founded in 2015 and holding a full Swedish banking licence, operates across Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, and has served more than 80,000 businesses to date. Liberis, which has operated for more than a decade, offers an API-based platform used across 15 markets and provides funding to businesses from $500 to $1M+. The companies describe their two routes to small business finance as a regulated bank and the platforms businesses already use.
Leadership will be led by Emil Sunvisson as Group CEO, with Rob Fairfield as Deputy CEO. Sunvisson said the group aims to become "the financial operating system small businesses never have to leave," and argued that lending decisions should rely less on backward-looking credit scores and more on real-time business data, with AI supporting faster decisions.
Nordic Capital, a private equity investor with around EUR 34 billion in assets under management, is backing the combined team. Emil Anderson, Partner at Nordic Capital Advisors, said the combination establishes "an unrivalled category leader in SMB fintech." The companies cite a financing gap for small businesses estimated in the trillions of dollars, and Liberis's December 2025 Impact Report, based on a survey of more than 1,700 funded merchants in the UK and US, found that 76% had previously been rejected by traditional lenders at least once.
The transaction joins Qred's regulated banking capability and direct small business relationships with Liberis's embedded finance technology and distribution through more than 30 platform partners. Qred, founded in 2015 and holding a full Swedish banking licence, operates across Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, and has served more than 80,000 businesses to date. Liberis, which has operated for more than a decade, offers an API-based platform used across 15 markets and provides funding to businesses from $500 to $1M+. The companies describe their two routes to small business finance as a regulated bank and the platforms businesses already use.
Leadership will be led by Emil Sunvisson as Group CEO, with Rob Fairfield as Deputy CEO. Sunvisson said the group aims to become "the financial operating system small businesses never have to leave," and argued that lending decisions should rely less on backward-looking credit scores and more on real-time business data, with AI supporting faster decisions.
Nordic Capital, a private equity investor with around EUR 34 billion in assets under management, is backing the combined team. Emil Anderson, Partner at Nordic Capital Advisors, said the combination establishes "an unrivalled category leader in SMB fintech." The companies cite a financing gap for small businesses estimated in the trillions of dollars, and Liberis's December 2025 Impact Report, based on a survey of more than 1,700 funded merchants in the UK and US, found that 76% had previously been rejected by traditional lenders at least once.
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