Fintech in Colombia
Fintech ecosystem
Colombia’s Fintech ecosystem has been growing in recent years, ranking in the 45th position of the countries with the greatest advance in the sector (Findexable, 2021) Likewise, in Latin America it is in fourth place only behind Brazil, Uruguay and Mexico.
As of 2020, Colombia has a total of 322 Fintech and among the main sectors according to the Colombian Association of Fintech Companies, we have the lending, payment and business technology segments, the latter being the one that is emerging. Likewise, the lending segment is the most important in the country (EY, 2020). As of 2019, there were already more than 35 loan platforms, where loan procedures can be done quickly, easily and without much documentation. These loans are generally aimed at microloans, as banks do not offer these types of loans due to their affordability.
Colombia Fintech Lending regulation
In terms of regulation in Crowdfunding, through Decree 1235 of 2020, the Government defined new guidelines for the crowdfunding model in the country, which complements Decree 1357 of 2018, which regulated collaborative financing activity in Colombia. One of the changes that the document introduces is the expansion of the maximum funding amounts, since the crowdfunding issues were a maximum of around $ 9,000 million, while the minimum issues in the second market are $ 50,000 million.
The maximum amount of crowdfunding was modified so that it does not exceed the 58,000 current legal minimum wages (around $ 50,000 million). The maximum investment made by an unqualified investor was also increased to 19,000 current legal minimum wages (around $ 1,600 million) (La Republica, 2020).
To date, supervised financial Crowdfunding has channeled more than $ 3,568 million to 21 SMEs from 1,257 investors, who have made more than 2,636 investments through the issuance of securities that until now have been concentrated in debt.
Lending Fintech
One of the most important Fintech in Colombia is Addi ,which was founded in 2018 and is currently headquartered in Bogota, Colombia. This Colombian Fintech offers credit and banking solutions at point of sale in the country, just by having an identity document and a cell phone. In 2020, the company received an investment of USD $ 15 million in a Series B round led by the Quona Capital fund and began its expansion to Brazil. Moreover, in 2021 Addi announced a $75 million extension to its Series B, bringing the total round size to $140 million in funding (Techcrunch, 2021).
Microfinance in Colombia
Among the most important microfinance institutions in Colombia is Mundo Mujer. Mundo Mujer has 29 years of experience in the market serving the communities of stratum one, two and three of Colombia, granting microcredits in an easy, fast and timely manner and with personalized attention, allowing financial inclusion, promoting empowerment, self-esteem and the independence of the woman.
