- Lendable is raising funds to extend further loans of up to R2.6 billion to customers across Africa, South East Asia and Latin America.
- The lending platform, which advances loans to fintechs, currently works in several markets including South Africa, Kenya and the Phillippines.
- It has already disbursed over R1.8 billion to borrowers.
Lendable is raising funds to enable fresh loans of $120 million to $180 million (~R1.7 billion - R2.6 billion) this year to customers in Africa, South East Asia and Latin America, according to co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Goldfarb.
The lender is seeking $15 million to $25 million in combined debt and equity and separately expects “a larger transaction for a fund” in the next 60 days, Goldfarb said in an emailed response to questions, without giving more details.
The new cash will enable it to complete transactions and expand into new markets.
Lendable advances loans to fintechs working in consumer credit, micro-, small- and medium-sized company credit, asset finance, payments, remittances, and creators of digital marketplaces in at least eight markets including Kenya, South Africa and the Philippines.
The company has raised $143 million (R2.1 billion) for loans and has so far disbursed $125 million (over R1.8 billion) to borrowers, including payment providers TerraPay, MFS Africa Ltd. and marketplace company Trella, Goldfarb said.
“In the next few months, we will complete our first transaction in Senegal and potentially our first local-currency transaction in Nigeria,” Goldfarb said.
The company is spending “a lot of time” in Egypt and South Africa where it sees “a ton of innovation” on the digitization of businesses and around asset finance, he said.