ING and Seedrs have announced a partnership that will combine traditional business loans and crowdfunding opportunities for new and growing businesses.

ING will become Seedrs’ equity partner in two European territories, meaning it will be able to fast track its small buiness and startups’ plans using the model. Seedrs also said the tie-up will help spread the word about equity corwdfunding thoughout Europe.

Although launching only in Belgium and Luxembourg at the moment, the idea is one that could be replicated in the UK too.

“For entrepreneurs who are driven by innovative ideas, a classic bank loan is not always the best or only solution,” Seedrs said in a blog post. “Both entrepreneurs and banks can benefit from a diversified funding combination. That’s why ING will now offer businesses that it believes can benefit from full or partial funding through Seedrs access to a fast track campaign review process.”

When companies apply for crowdfunding on Seedrs, they will be consulted by ING representatives who will be help them decide which is the best funding option for them. Then, they are able to use INGs fast-track system to submit their campaign and it will be assessed within two days by Seedrs.

Seedrs is planning to grow its business exponentially in Europe over the next few months and partnerships like this will enable it to become a powerful competitor in the equity crowdfunding space.

“We are very excited to be working together with ING in making equity crowdfunding more easily available to the Belgian business community,”Jeff Lynn, CEO of Seedrs said. “To our knowledge this is the first time that a well-respected, global financial institution like ING has partnered with a leading international equity crowdfunding platform like Seedrs, and we think this relationship is very encouraging for the future of business finance.”

He added the company is proud to have been chosen as ING’s partner for this venture and it’s proof that Seedrs’ model of equity crowdfunding doen right is succeeding throughout Europe.