MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: E-lending Company Creditas of Brazil Raises $225m in Equity, Eyeing Expansion to Mexico

Creditas, an online lending platform in Brazil, recently raised USD 225 million in equity, valuing the firm at approximately USD 1.75 billion. Among its plans for the new funds is to expand to Mexico. The new investors in Creditas are the Liechtenstein-based LGT Lightstone and the following US-based companies: Advent International, which is managed by Sunley House Capital; e.ventures; Tarsadia Capital and Wellington Management. The following investors also participated in the equity raise, increasing their exposure to Creditas: UK-based Amadeus Capital Partners; Brazil-based Kaszek Ventures; SoftBank Vision Fund 1 and SoftBank Latin America Fund, which are managed by the Japan-based SoftBank Group; and Sweden-based Vostok Emerging Finance. As of the close of this transaction, VEF owns a 9.7-percent stake in Creditas. The sizes of the stakes held by the other investors have not been disclosed.

Mathias Schilling, a co-founder of e.ventures, argued that “by empowering Brazilians to take control of their lending needs at reasonable rates, Creditas creates a beloved consumer product that will drive significant value for customers and investors.”

The firm’s products include loans for merchants, payroll lending, home improvement loans and car financing. Sample terms include a minimum loan size of BRL 25 (USD 4.70) and monthly interest rates starting at 0.75 percent.

Founded in 2012 as BankFacil, a tool for comparing financial products, the firm received its first round of external investment in 2015, in the amount of BRL 25 million (USD 4.62 million). It changed its name to Creditas in 2017 and grew its annual revenue to approximately BRL 175 million (USD 31.9 million) as of 2019. The firm projects it will bring in BRL 300 million (USD 54.6 million) during 2020.

By Harriet Ritchie, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Creditas article
https://www.creditas.com/blog/posts/creditas-seriese-br

Creditas homepage
https://www.creditas.com/

Advent International homepage
https://www.adventinternational.com/

Amadeus Capital Partners homepage
https://www.amadeuscapital.com/

E.ventures homepage
https://e.ventures/

Kaszek Ventures homepage
https://www.kaszek.com/

LGT Lightstone homepage
https://www.lgtlightstone.com/

SoftBank Group homepage
https://global.softbank/

Tarsadia homepage
https://tarsadia.com/

Vostok Emerging Finance (VEF) homepage
https://vef.vc/