Brazil-based consumer loan provider Creditas yesterday obtained $231m in series D capital led by telecommunications and internet conglomerate SoftBank’s Latin America Fund.
SoftBank also participated through its Vision Fund, investing alongside Santander InnoVentures, the corporate venturing arm of financial services firm Santander, investment firm Vostok Emerging Finance and venture capital firm Amadeus Capital Partners.
The round was initially reported as being worth $200m a month ago. It remains subject to customary closing conditions.
Creditas, founded in 2012 as BankFacil, enables consumers to take out secured loans of $1,250 to $500,000. The company accepts vehicles and property as collateral and claims to massively undercut the rates offered by financial products such as overdrafts and credit cards.
Sergio Furio, founder and chief executive of Creditas, said: “At Creditas we relentlessly focus on creating an amazing experience that provides efficiency and lower prices to democratise the access to low-cost lending in Brazil.
“With these investments, we plan to accelerate this process and expand our business model in order to improve the lives of the Brazilian population. We are excited about partnering with the Vision Fund and SoftBank Latin America Fund along with our existing investors, and we congratulate the Creditas team for the results of its hard work.”
Creditas has raised more than $314m in funding to date. Santander InnoVentures previously contributed to a $5m series C extension together with Amadeus, bringing the round to a $55m close in April 2018.
Vostok had led the initial $50m series C close in December 2017 that included media and e-commerce group Naspers’ Fintech Fund, Kaszek Ventures, Quona Capital, QED Investors and the World Bank’s investment arm International Finance Corporation.
Naspers Ventures, a strategic investment subsidiary of Naspers, had already taken part in a $19m series B round in February 2017 together with International Finance Corporation and Redpoint eVentures.
