Lulalend has raised a R93 million ($6.5 million) Series A round co-led by IFC and Quona Capital.
TechCrunch reported that the South African lender will use the round to build its tech and data team and improve its ability to reach more SMEs in South Africa.
“The biggest thing is strengthening our balance sheet so we can access traditional debt funding to grow our loan book,” Lulalend’s CEO Trevor Gosling told TechCrunch on a call.
The company added on its Twitter page that: “We can’t wait to put this investment to work supporting SA SMEs & helping close the significant funding gap that exists”.
Lulalend was founded in 2014 by Gosling and Neil Welman.
It utilises proprietary credit scoring technology to enable it to provide quick decisions, fast funding, and transparent pricing to SMEs.
Gosling is a Chartered Accountant with a strong entrepreneurial flair. His last e-commerce venture, 5ounces, was acquired by the Naspers group in 2013. He continued to work as the CEO after acquisition. He has worked in finance for 7 years: as an investment banker internationally with Goldman Sachs and in structured finance for 3 of those years with Rand Merchant Bank.
While Welman is a Chemical Engineer who has worked in the Investment Banking industry in London for over 10 years. His expertise lie in credit and derivatives risk, and rapid application development in these areas. Previous clients consulted to include Barclays Capital, Merrill Lynch/ Bank of America, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Tsb.
The new funding will help Lulalend scale in response to South Africa’s significant funding gap for SMEs.
8 Comments
Your blog post was fantastic, thanks for the great content!
Your passion for what you do shines through in every post It’s truly inspiring to see someone doing what they love and excelling at it
Your blog always puts a smile on my face and makes me feel better about the world Thank you for being a source of light and positivity
I’ve been following this blog for years and it’s amazing to see how much it has grown and evolved Congratulations on all your success!
I love how this blog celebrates diversity and inclusivity It’s a reminder that we are all unique and should embrace our differences
This blog post is packed with great content!
Keep up the amazing work!
Your passion for what you do is evident in every post It’s inspiring to see someone truly fulfilling their purpose and making a positive impact