US fintech Tala secures $150m debt facility for Mexico expansion
US-based fintech Tala has secured a new debt facility of up to $150 million with Neuberger Berman to accelerate the expansion of its lending operations in Mexico.
Tala secures $150m debt facility with Neuberger Berman
The facility includes an initial capital commitment of $75 million, with the option to access additional funds up to the full limit, making this Tala’s largest capital markets transaction to date.
In comments, CEO Shivani Siroya, who founded Tala in 2011, says the planned expansion of the company’s financial platform will “focus on our credit portfolio”, with the potential for “future financial service options”.
Backed by the likes of PayPal Ventures and the Stellar Development Foundation, Tala’s platform provides credit, payments, savings, and transfer services to underserved populations in emerging markets, using alternative data and machine learning to assess creditworthiness.
These markets include Kenya, the Philippines, India, and Mexico, which is now the primary focus of Tala’s expansion plans. Tala has been live in Mexico since 2017, during which time it has amassed three million customers.
The company claims that in total, it has “delivered more than $6 billion in credit to more than 10 million customers across Latin America, Southeast Asia, and East Africa“.
