Creditas Further Expanding in Brazil

FACTS

• After they announced an investment from Santander InnoVenture in 2018, the Brazilian start-up Creditas raised $231 million from Japan-based SoftBank Group and SoftBank Vision Fund.

• The secured lending platform Creditas became one of the prevailing FinTechs in Brazil as local and international companies, including Kazk Ventures and Accion Frontier Fund from Quona, are investing in their development

CREDITAS: KEY FIGURES

• Founded in 2012
• Formerly known as BankFacil
• Over 700 employees
• Claims fivefold increase in revenue for 2018

CHALLENGES

• Improving customers' access to low-cost credit offers in Brazil. In order to address the debt burden in Brazil and make credit and financial services accessible to the largest possible number of people, Creditas applies lower interest rates (from 0.99%/month vs 6.80% on average with other lending specialists – source: Central Bank of Brazil).
• Reaching out for South America. These amounts should allow them to hire more staff, enhance their technology and expand their current portfolio of financial products. They would consider entering the Mexican market in the years to come.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• Creditas isn’t the only South American FinTech to be drawing investors' attention: Nubank, for instance, was valued at over $4 billion in October 2018 after they raised $420 million from the Chinese group Tencent; And, BBVA invested in the Brazilian neo-bank Neon. Just like Asian and Indian markets, Brazil and Mexico are starting to be viewed as a New Eldorado by FinTechs.
• Through this investment, SoftBank again stresses their leading position on the banking industry. They recently invested nearly €900 million in the German FinTech Wirecard.