Emerging market lender Lendable seeks $100M to fund Fintech companies

Emerging markets fintech financier Lendable is targeting to raise a $100 million fund to invest in African and Asian fintech companies, the firm said in an emailed statement today. Dubbed the MSME Fintech Credit Fund, Lendable says it will provide credit to African and Asian fintech companies so they can offer credit facilities and financial services for more than 150,000 small businesses.

So far, the fintech lender has closed $49 million from impact investors such as DFC, EMIIF (DFAT), Calvert Impact Capital, Ceniarth, BIO, FMO and FSD Africa. It expects to close another $20 million this fourth quarter before a final hard close in 2022.

Lendable has provided debt financing to several fintechs from nine emerging markets. Some include Tugende, Carbon, Uploan, KoinWorks, Planet42, FairMoney, Trella, Payjoy, Solar Panda and MFS Africa. The fintech financier said its debt facilities range between $2 million to $15 million, with a payback duration between three to four years. So far, Lendable has a default rate of about 0.01%, said a company’s spokesperson in an interview with TechCrunch this year.