The Estonian-founded fintech startup, askRobin – a financial services marketplace for underbanked customers in Latin America – has completed a €1.6 million seed round to develop product functionality and increase its market share in Mexico, Argentina and Colombia.
“Traditional banks focus on a small well-off part of the society, whereas askRobin is working hard to help the underserved customer groups gain better access to formal credit products,” the company said in a statement.
According to Rain Sepp, a co-founder and the CEO of the company, banks lack high-quality data for making credit decisions.
“When I started out with askRobin in 2017, I took a closer look at the Latin American market and it became clear to me just how many people are left unserved by banks. Over 60% of the employed middle class in emerging markets are not able to make their dreams come true simply because they are not able to find credit offers that match their needs,” he said.
€26 million credit issued in two years
Sepp and his team are developing technology for unique risk-based segmentation of applicants, which allows lending partners to better adjust their risk, offering more competitive pricing. The borrowers can compare rates and choose the best option to save their money.
With 1.1 million unique customer accounts and almost 100 lenders, the platform has issued over €26 million credit in two years.
The investors who participated in the seed round include VC funds Change Ventures, Vereeni Early Stage Fund, BENE Asia Capital and Lemonade Stand, and 11 angel investors from the Estonian Business Angels Network, as well as seasoned tech entrepreneurs from Estonia.
Cover: The founders of askRobin, Rain Sepp and Karl Kaju. Photo by Anari Hagel.
