EBRD lending 12 mln euro to back Serbian software firm HTEC's growth

The loan will support HTEC's growth and development programme, the first phase of which envisages the acquisition of the Serbian IT company Execom, the EBRD said in a statement.

The combined company will have a workforce of 600 engineers working on product development, cloud platforms, web and mobile technologies, artificial intelligence as well as hardware engineering, and will be able to deliver fully integrated solutions to existing and new customers in the United States and Europe, the EBRD said.

The loan is 50% co-financed by the Enterprise Expansion Fund (ENEF), an entity that finances small and medium-sized enterprises with high growth potential to support the development and expansion of their businesses, the EBRD noted.

The development of HTEC's strong regional research and development (R&D) hub in the Western Balkans will support local engineering talent and offer world class services that are much needed with the sharp rise in home working patterns following the coronavirus pandemic, the lender added.

HTEC provides services to a number of international clients ranging from blue chips to high tech start-ups in sectors such as retail, healthcare, transportation, logistics, digital media, telecoms and financial and payment services, where state-of-the-art IT solutions play an essential role, especially in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

($ = 0.837541 euro)