Kiwi lands $4.5m series A funding and $75m credit facility

Kiwi, a fintech that helps Latinos build credit history, announces equity funding round while also tapping into a credit facility to serve US-based customers and grow into Latin America.

Kiwi, a fintech that aims to help Latinos in the US build credit history, announced a $4.5m pre-series A funding round and a $75m credit facility on Monday.

The equity round was led by Advent-Morro Equity Partners, Altio Capital, and Independent Capital while the debt financing was provided by i80 Group.

"Addressing the difficulties faced by underbanked consumers in joining the traditional credit system will have the most significant positive impact on their financial lives," Mariano Sanz, co-founder and CEO of Kiwi said, adding that they plan to serve customers across the US and eventually Latin America.

Kiwi was founded in 2020 by first-generation immigrants Mariano Sanz and Alexander Schachter.

The fintech, targeting a Latino customer base, uses proprietary AI and machine learning models to offer thin-file borrowers initial capital to build their credit portfolios. Currently, Kiwi has over 30,000 customers and sees growth potential as US Latinos figures are projected to rise to 100 million, from the current 60 million in the coming decades.

For i80 Group, the announcement marks the New York-based providers’ second $75m credit facility this month as last week they issued a similar offering to Cardless. The group has said they experienced an uptick in their lending offerings since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

The equity round was led by Advent-Morro Equity Partners, a tech venture fund based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Kiwi’s website and social accounts are predominately operated in Spanish.

Edward Goldstein, managing director at i80 Group said: "Kiwi's innovative approach to credit access and their strong reception from customers make them a leader in the market and position them well to provide essential financial resources to people who need it.