Narayan AmmachchiBrazilian financial technology startup A55 has raised US$5 million from various investors led by Santander Innoventures, a venture capital arm of Spanish banking giant Banco Santander.
Founded in 2018, A55 offers credit lines to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers being its main customers.
The startup looks for the type of customers who have recurring revenue but lack physical assets to pledge against their loan.
Over the past two years, the startup has lent approximately US$26 million to more than 30 entrepreneurs in Mexico and Brazil.
The investment has won Santander a seat on the board of A55. This is the fourth investment for Santander in Latin America, with other regional startups in its portfolio including Mexico’s Klar, and ePesos, and Brazilian popular fintech Creditas.
“We began our journey in a kitchen trying to lend our own money with pen and paper to companies with no real assets to lend against,” says A55’s CEO Hugo Mathecowitsch.
“Data is the new gold and fuels the new economy. We are building the platform of the future, where transactional and revenue data will drive credit decisions and shape the future of financial services.”
Add comment