Participated · Debt Financing · Sep 2024

Ume offers a full credit infrastructure platform that uses AI to handle credit analysis, pricing, collections, customer service and access to capital. The company enables retailers, marketplaces and service providers to offer consumer financing across its network. Ume operates in 10,000 points of sale and serves roughly 4 million consumers in Brazil. The recent R$96M FIDC transaction is expected by Ume to generate more than $192M in additional revenue for its partners. The funding injects receivables-backed capital into the business to support continued expansion of its financing operations.

Participated · Debt Financing · Jan 2022

Agrolend operates a lending platform that provides credit at the point of sale for agricultural inputs (seeds, crop protection, crop nutrition) using CPR-F contracts signed via farmers’ WhatsApp. The company leverages a distribution network of more than 150 partners—retailers, industries, and cooperatives—and operates in over 15 Brazilian states across crops including soybeans, corn, coffee, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables and livestock. Agrolend finances loans through issuance of time deposits targeted to agribusiness (LCAs) distributed on major investment platforms. The company has nearly $100M in total funding and reports a capital base of approximately $100M following the latest round. Management says the capital increase will let Agrolend expand credit offerings to industries, retailers and cooperatives without raising its leverage ratio, continuing a history of low‑risk growth. Its stated goal is to grow the credit portfolio to $600M and serve about 10,000 small and medium‑sized farmers. Agrolend is a São Paulo-based financial institution that provides credit to small and medium-sized farmers in Brazil through a digital platform. Led by CEO Andre Glezer, the company originates and formalizes loans in a digital environment via smartphone, partnering with input and equipment distributors, industries and agtechs to finance technology. It operates in more than ten Brazilian states across crops and sectors including soybeans, corn, coffee, sugar cane, fruits, livestock and dairy cattle. Agrolend is targeting expansion to serve up to 10,000 small-to-medium sized farmers and increase its loan book to R$2 billion for the 2023/24 crop season. The company expected its loan book to reach R$250 million by the end of 2022 and will increase equity to R$220 million after the Series B. The business combines digital origination with partnerships and capital markets solutions to scale agricultural credit across Brazil. Agrolend offers a 100% digital credit product for small and medium agricultural producers, with a fast, low-friction underwriting process that completes in under five days and typically does not require physical collateral. The company uses advanced technology to enable an innovative credit model focused on financing diverse agricultural productions and investments in equipment and new technologies. Agrolend emphasizes ESG and social impact by targeting underserved producers across more than 10 Brazilian states and roughly 100 municipalities. Founded in December 2020, the startup says it is currently doubling in size every month. The recent capital will support growth of the credit portfolio, expansion of the team, and improvements to the platform and credit model. Management aims to scale the loan book to R$1 billion and reach 5,000 customers within two years. Agrolend offers an online loan origination platform for small and medium-scale farmers, using advanced technology and innovative credit analysis to underwrite loans without physical collateral. The company partners with traditional agricultural inputs players and supply-chain participants to originate loans and reach growers. Loans range from 50,000 to 300,000 Brazilian reals, run for up to one year, and are repaid after harvest; some loans can be issued as soon as 24 hours after request. Agrolend says it offers lower interest rates than traditional banks and operates the entire process digitally. Founded in December 2020 and based in São Paulo, the startup raised seed capital to scale lending and build its team. It plans to structure a fund that will receive and hold originated loans, with Agrolend selling loans to that debt investment vehicle to enable much larger lending capacity.

Participated · Debt Financing · Sep 2021

SuperSim offers micro‑personal loans aimed at financial inclusion for Brazil’s sub‑banked (classes C and D), using technology and an efficient risk system that can approve borrowers with negative credit records. Loans currently range from R$250 to R$2,500, with rates positioned competitively versus major credit cards and declining for borrowers who prove repayment capacity. The company uses the borrower’s mobile phone as a form of guarantee for many approvals and reached a record of more than 5,000 loans granted in a single day. Management says SuperSim achieved profitability two years after founding and now employs over 150 people. The firm targets roughly 10% of Brazil’s non‑prime consumer credit market (about 1% of the total personal‑loan market) and plans to scale further. SuperSim offers online microloans, including loans secured by customers' smartphones and unsecured loans ranging from R$250 to R$2,500. The company serves hundreds of thousands of monthly loan requests that convert into thousands of loans, and it targets financially underserved customers. SuperSim has formed strategic partnerships (including AME Digital) and runs pilots with other national-scale companies to expand distribution. Management projects very rapid growth—forecasting a 1,200% increase in 2021 versus 2020—which the company says validates its product-market fit. The business uses data and technology to underwrite higher-risk borrowers and aims to increase financial inclusion through microcredit. SuperSim began operations in 2019. SuperSim offers 100% online microcredit loans in Brazil, with ticket sizes ranging from R$500 to R$2,500 and a focus on financially excluded or negatively scored customers. The company uses a proprietary AI system that crosses more than 1,000 internal and external data points to assess fraud, payment capacity and willingness to pay. This year it launched a product that uses the customer’s mobile phone as collateral to help control default risk and expand acceptance rates. SuperSim says each loan builds a customer history that can lower risk over time and enable better rates and longer terms, while maintaining concern for overindebtedness. The fintech reports rapid growth in demand—loan volume in June quadrupled versus April—and attributes acceleration to pandemic-driven need for microcredit. SuperSim began operations in September 2019 and positions itself on a mission of practical financial inclusion for Brazilians underserved by traditional finance.