Aprila Bank ASA announced that have signed a one-year pilot agreement with DNB for the distribution of Aprila’s automated financing solutions for small businesses through DNB channels. Most new jobs are created in the start-up and small business segment, a segment currently underserved with financing options. To help bridge this “SME funding gap”, DNBÂ’s small business customers will be offered AprilaÂ’s automated and data-driven credit solutions through a joint pilot. The pilot will move forward in incremental steps, from an initial controlled testing, and if successful, into an offering across relevant DNB user interfaces. Working together in this way DNB and Aprila will also be able to run tests and experiments to learn more about how to best serve small businesses and their financing needs. DNB has around 140,000 small business customers in Norway and has launched a number of initiatives to improve the ease of starting and operating a business in Norway, such as DNB Puls, DNB NXT, DNB Regnskap and a wide range of advisory services directed at small businesses.