Froda
Froda is a startup bank that lends to small businesses that traditional banks often overlook, using retail deposits, automated underwriting, and embedded partnerships. The source reports $57 million in revenue in 2025, 150,000 businesses supported across seven markets, approximately $3.45 billion funded since launch, and a roughly $500 million active loan book.
- •Owning a banking license and retail deposits gives Froda a cheaper, more stable funding base than lenders that depend on outside capital.
- •Embedding its lending product inside partner platforms lets Froda reach small businesses at the point they already transact, which lowers acquisition cost and speeds expansion into new markets.
- •Automated underwriting lets Froda serve many small loans, such as an average of about $23,000, profitably, a segment that is costly for traditional banks to serve.
- 1.Identify a small-business segment that traditional banks underserve and build underwriting that can approve loans at low cost per application.
- 2.Secure a funding base, such as deposits through a banking license or a dependable capital partner, before scaling lending volume.
- 3.Distribute the product through embedded partnerships with fintechs, payment providers, and software platforms that already hold customer relationships.
- 4.Expand market by market by reusing the same partnership and underwriting playbook rather than building a new sales team in each country.
Similar Companies
GetResponse
$5.0M/moGetResponse is a bootstrapped SaaS platform founded by Simon Grubowski in 1998 with just $200, starting from his parents' attic. The company grew to serve nearly a million users with approximately 100,000 paying customers generating around $5 million in monthly recurring revenue by expanding from email marketing into marketing automation, landing pages, webinars, and CRM tools. Today, with 300 employees across offices in Poland, Boston, Canada, Russia, and Malaysia, GetResponse has achieved 20% year-over-year growth while reducing monthly logo churn to 6% through product improvements and simplified cancellation processes.
QuestionPro
$2.5M/moQuestionPro is a bootstrapped SaaS survey and feedback platform that grew to $30M ARR primarily through strategic acquisitions of smaller companies, buying them at 2x multiples. The company's growth strategy focused on consolidation within the survey/feedback tools market rather than traditional marketing channels.
Servoy
$2.5M/moServoy is a low-code platform-as-a-service founded in 2001 by Jan Elman that enables rapid development of business applications for corporate users and independent software vendors. After 17 years of bootstrapped growth with only $1M in external funding raised in 2008, the company has scaled to over 1,000 customers, $30M ARR, 100 employees, 30% YoY growth, 3% revenue churn, and net revenue retention above 100%. The company maintains healthy unit economics with a 12-14 month customer acquisition payback period and a $1 CAC to $1 ACV ratio.
Hive Blockchain
$2.5M/moHive Blockchain is a digital currency mining company founded by Harry Pochgranti that validates cryptocurrency transactions on blockchain networks, primarily Ethereum. The company went public on the TSX Venture Exchange in September 2017, raising $17 million on day one followed by additional equity raises totaling approximately $200 million Canadian by end of 2017. As of Q1 2018, Hive operates mining facilities in Iceland and Sweden with a $30 million annualized run rate revenue.
LifeWave
$1.7M/moLifeWave is a health technology company founded in 2002 by David Schmidt that sells phototherapy patches to help people improve their health naturally. The company generates $20M/mo in revenue across 80 countries using an independent distributor business model, with their flagship X39 product driving record growth after its 2019 launch.