The Colombian fintech industry is again witnessing a surge in venture capital investments after some tough months for local companies.
Kala, the Bogotá-based SaaS fintech that enables small and medium-sized finance companies to streamline their credit granting process, recently announced the raising of $6 million, obtained in its first 12 months of operations.
The investment, which was made in two parts, will expand the fintech’s commercial and engineering team and lay the groundwork to take its operations to other parts of LatAm.
Kala’s LatAm expansion plans
This capital injection has been led by Mexican venture capital firm Cometa, with the participation of 99Startups and existing investors such as Brazilian firm Canary, Acrew, and Clocktower, which had contributed $2 million USD in a pre-seed round.
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With the recent investment, the company is looking to expand into Mexico and Colombia — countries where it plans to forge alliances with local companies, strengthen its presence, and help more small businesses streamline their credit operations to boost growth in its regional market.
The startup was founded in Bogota in 2021 by Manuel Alemán, Rodolfo Lazo, and Pablo Cattólica, who have more than 20 years of experience in the fintech industry.
Increasing financial inclusion in the region
Kala seeks to make credit accessible to more individuals and companies in Latin America to increase financial inclusion. The company continues to attract investors during slow funds injections for regional fintechs.
“We understand the impact on financial inclusion that results from digitizing credit processes, but we also know how difficult and time-consuming this change can be for a finance company,” said the Co-founder and CEO of Kala, Manuel Alemán.
“This is why we created Kala, to facilitate the digitization of banks, finance companies, and companies that sell on credit.”
According to data disclosed by the company, the startup has processed more than 50,000 credit operations on its platform in the last twelve months. The fintech seeks to become a heavy-weight player for loans of all types in the region in the next couple of years.