SoftBank has invested a $100 million in Konfio, a Mexican fintech company. The Series D investment round was led by SoftBank. Other investors such as QED Investors, Kaszek Ventures, and Vostok Emerging Finance also participated in the funding.
This is Softbank’s third investment in Mexico after raising its $5 billion Innovation Fund for Latin American startups. Also, it reflects SoftBank’s interest to promote new technologies. In August, SoftBank was in advanced talks with Konfio regarding the investment. Recently, SoftBank launched its own blockchain-powered debit cards.
Konfio was established in 2013. It will use the proceeds to expand working-capital loans to SMBs and introduce new products into the Mexican market. Some of these new products to be launched in the future might include customer credit report analysis for businesses, in addition to expanding its online marketplace Konsiento.
Konsiento is where businesses can look for legal services, office supplies and web designers. The platform is still in its nascent stages of development.
Previously, Konfio had raised $300 million in capital and credit lines. It aims to ease financing for SMEs in the country as many of them struggle with traditional banking owing to heavy fees and bureaucracy, the local media reported.
“We consider ourselves a tech company that’s focused on resolving one of the biggest problems for [SMBs], which is access to credit,” Director of Corporate Strategy & Investor Relations Gregorio Tomassi, told Bloomberg. “We grant quick loans based on technology, alternative data sources, artificial intelligence and data science.”
SoftBank continues to expand its Mexican investment portfolio with other startups such as Kavak and Clip. Kavak is a used car purchasing platform, while Clip is a payments startup.