SuperSim, a microlending startup based in Sao Paulo in Brazil, has secured $5.6m through debt financing in Series B funding. The firm has a purview of lending small sums of money to households of lower economic strata.
“SuperSim was born out of a dream shared by all the members of our team: saying ‘Yes’ to as many Brazilians as possible, in a fast, safe and uncomplicated way”, the company’s website says. Distrito Ventures and two angel investors have invested in the Fintech company’s operations. Navi also joined SuperSim’s round as the lead investor.
Brazil, which had an HDI of 0.761 in 2018, is a place where procuring loans is difficult, especially for small sums of money. Microlending firms like SuperSim act as a solution to this problem by improving the credit market in the country. The ultimate goal for the company is to democratize the process of securing loans.
Loans given out by companies like SuperSim are generally guaranteed by small personal objects like cell phones and are expected to be repaid in 4-12 months. SuperSim president Daniel Shteyn argues that it maximizes the acceptance rate.
With this large financing to support them, SuperSim could access more important information like customers’ financial history and by extension creditworthiness. Information like this would help minimize the defaulting of loans and cumulative losses. SuperSim claims it has seen a four-fold increase in its overall loan capacity in just the last four months.
“Almost no other Fintech has been delivering money to new customers, [except] us. To maximize the acceptance rate, we use the cellphone as a guarantee [or collateral.] Our mission is financial inclusion that works in practice” said Daniel Shetyn, President of SuperSim.
The company plans to conduct a Series A investment round before the end of 2020. Despite the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fintech sector in Brazilian continues to attract significant investments.
