Tala, a Los Angeles, CA-based global technology company building accessible financial services, raised $145m in Series E funding.
The round, which brought total funding to more than $350m, was led by Upstart with participation from the Stellar Development Foundation, new investors Kindred Ventures and the J. Safra Group, and existing investors IVP, Revolution Growth, Lowercase Capital, and PayPal Ventures. As part of this fundraise, Paul Gu, co-founder of Upstart and Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation, have joined Tala’s board of directors.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the rollout of its new financial account experience, grow its team across Kenya, the Philippines, Mexico, India and the United States, and pull forward plans for both geographic and product expansion, including crypto offerings.
Led by Shivani Siroya, founder and CEO, Tala provides customers with tools to borrow, save and manage their money, all through its consumer finance app. The company was already testing its new product lines in early 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated demand for digital financial services and moved quickly to meet that demand, leveraging technology the company had developed to scale its mobile credit product and bridge digital and cash ecosystems across multiple geographies.
In addition to payments and savings, the company’s account will offer an expanded range of personalized credit options, including longer-term loans and credit that can be configured to match customers’ income cycles. Since launching in Nairobi in 2014, Tala has delivered more than $2.7 billion in credit to more than 6 million customers across Kenya, the Philippines, Mexico and India. Every day, more than 12,000 new users globally sign up for its services.
FinSMEs
14/10/2021
About Upstart
Upstart (NASDAQ: UPST) is a leading AI lending platform partnering with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit. By leveraging Upstart’s AI platform, Upstart-powered banks and credit unions can have higher approval rates and lower loss rates, while simultaneously delivering the exceptional digital-first lending experience their customers demand. More than two-thirds of Upstart loans are approved instantly and are fully automated. Upstart was founded by ex-Googlers in 2012 and is based in San Mateo, California and Columbus, Ohio.
About Stellar
Stellar is a decentralized, fast, scalable, and uniquely sustainable network for financial products and services. It is both a cross-currency transaction system and a platform for digital asset issuance, designed to connect the world’s financial infrastructure. Financial institutions worldwide issue assets and settle payments on the Stellar network, which has grown to over 5 million accounts.
About the Stellar Development Foundation
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, an open-source network that connects the world’s financial infrastructure. Founded in 2014, the Foundation helps maintain Stellar’s codebase, supports the technical and business communities building on the network, and serves as a voice to regulators and institutions. The Foundation seeks to create equitable access to the global financial system, using the Stellar network to unlock the world’s economic potential through blockchain technology.
###
—
Emily TschirhartAssociate Vice President