LatAm List – Sempli, a leading online lending platform for small businesses in Colombia, recently raised $8M from Oikocredit and Incofin CVSO. The BID LAB, XTPI Fund, Generación Exponencial, and Impulsum Ventures also participated in this round. Since it was founded in 2017, Sempli has raised over $24M from equity rounds.
The Colombian startup will use the funds to continue to grow its portfolio and enhance its technology and data analytics processes. The small business lending market is an opportunity ripe for picking in Colombia, which is already the industry’s third largest market in the world.
“Our purpose and dream is to transform and disrupt the banking industry, and become the number one digital option for small businesses in Colombia looking for a loan. We strongly believe that technology and data will drive our growth, and partnering with knowledgeable financial investors such as Oikocredit, Incofin CVSO and BID LAB gives us the confidence to build on our position as a solid balance sheet lender that will positively impact the growth of thousands of small businesses in our country,” commented Estaban Velasco and Felipe Llano, co founders of Sempli.
“For Incofin CVSO, supporting tech innovation and disruptive business models is key to continue reducing the gap to access to financial services, particularly for productive loans in developing countries. Improving the access to credit for small entrepreneurs, the so called ‘missing middle’, has a significant potential in terms of social and economic impact, given the key role of these businesses in the creation of formal job opportunities and the economic dynamic of countries like Colombia. For all the above, investing in Sempli is meaningful milestone for Incofin CVSO’s record as an impact investor,” said Felipe Vargas, Incofin’s Equity Investment Manager.
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