E684 | Max Schertel, finmid & Tim Rehder, Earlybird: Powering European SMBs with the cash they need

Welcome back to the EUVC Podcast, where we bring you the people and perspectives shaping European venture.This week, Andreas Munk Holm is joined by Max Schertel, co-founder & CEO of finmid, and Tim Rehder, General Partner at Earlybird, to unpack the rise of embedded lending infrastructure for B2B platforms.From food delivery and PSPs to ride-hailing and fleet platforms, finmid lets marketplaces offer financing directly to their merchants – with a single integration, across 30+ European markets. Together, they break down why embedded lending is often new capital, not just smoother UX; how better data lets you underwrite the “invisible” SME segment; and what it really takes to scale regulated infra across a fragmented Europe.Here’s what’s covered:01:03 – What finmid does: One integration for platforms to offer any financing product to business users across Europe02:02 – Why embedded wins: Tim on data access, risk scoring, and turning platforms into “banks in all but the balance sheet”04:05 – Owning infra, not capital: Regulation, operations and data engine vs outsourcing pure funding to institutions06:43 – Economics & margins: Market size, 60%+ gross margins, and why net income beats headline spread10:47 – Customer examples: How Wolt Cash works, proactive offers in the merchant dashboard, and +80% retention uplift12:32 – Impact on the market: New capital for underserved SMEs vs just smoothing the bank journey17:57 – Ticket sizes & duration: Typical loans of €10–20k, up to ~12 months, 85% renewal and the path to larger, longer credit21:15 – AI & risk: Using generative and agentic AI in ops (adverse media) and data science (millions of data points, daily model iteration)29:20 – Scaling to 30 countries: U27 + UK, CH, IS – regulation, payments rails and why “ugly detail work” is the real moat40:17 – Partner alignment: Making financing core to platform metrics (GMV & retention) and hard-won lessons on incentives