The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Nexus Group, a leading provider of identity and security solutions for physical and digital access, have signed a EUR 29 million loan agreement. The loan will help to further accelerate the pace of Nexus’ development of its identity and access management products. The agreement was made possible by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe, which was launched by the EIB Group and the European Commission to boost the competitiveness of the European economy.
Nexus has created an easy-to-manage identification solution that lets organizations’ users identify themselves visually, log in, open doors, sign transactions, make payments, and use follow-me printing – with one single “Smart ID”. This digital identity is most often hosted on a card, but mobile IDs and other authenticators can also be used. The Smart ID solution is also used for the “internet of things”, to issue and manage trusted digital identities for things, making it possible to protect their communication.
The deal with Nexus is special in that it makes use of the new EIB venture debt product, which combines the advantages of a long-term loan with a remuneration model based on the company’s performance. Any such transaction helps to strengthen the borrower’s economic capital without diluting the shares of existing investors.
“The digital and analogue world are moving ever closer together. Nexus has world-class technology and is in a unique position to enable the convergence of physical and digital access,” said Alexander Stubb, responsible for EIB’s operations in Northern European countries. “I’m glad that the Investment Plan for Europe allows the EIB to step-up investment into highly innovative companies such as Nexus. This will enable Sweden and Europe to keep up with the fast pace of digitalisation.”
“The capital will allow an even faster roll-out of Nexus technology into new applications. But equally important is the signal this sends to our partners, customers and users. It’s a quality seal to be backed by the EIB. Their support is the result of a very rigorous due diligence process, where they have reviewed us and our potential from all possible angels,” said Lars Pettersson, CEO of Nexus.
The loan will allow Nexus to be even more impactful in its vision to improve society by enabling trusted identities through leveraging its Smart ID technology, according to Pettersson
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term financing available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. In 2016, the EIB provided Swedish projects with loans totalling to almost EUR 1.9 billion.
The Investment Plan for Europe focuses on strengthening European investments to create jobs and growth. It does so by making smarter use of new and existing financial resources, removing obstacles to investment, and providing visibility and technical assistance to investment projects. The Investment Plan is already showing results. The projects and agreements approved for financing under the EFSI so far are expected to mobilise EUR 209 billion in total investments across 28 Member States and to support 528 000 SMEs.
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Swedish-owned Nexus Group is an innovative and growing product company, developing identity and security solutions for physical and digital access. Its flagship solution provides everything you need to issue, life-cycle manage, and use Smart IDs that let your users identify themselves visually, log in, open doors, sign, make payments, and use follow-me printing. Solutions for IoT (internet of things) security is another important part of the Nexus portfolio. The company has enabled trusted identities for people and things since 1984, and its technology is today relied upon by a large number of organisations, primarily within the public sector, armed forces, industry, health care, education, energy, and finance & e-commerce. Nexus has 300 employees across 17 offices in Europe, India and the US, as well as a global partner network.
Published
18/12 2017