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Avista Raises US$75m Credit Line To Support Under-Banked Colombians

15 April 2020

Colombian credit placement platform Avista raised a US$75m credit line led by undisclosed financial institutions. Avista was founded in 2019 and previously raised US$2m in seed funding. Avista provides credit lines to under-banked Colombians and has a current loan portfolio of US$30m, focused on pensioners and government employees. The company also launched a credit line of up to COP$120bn to support the elderly during the COVID-19 crisis.

(Press Release) Banks have traditionally focused on clients who have an identified credit risk and are on their labor cusp in order to target high expense products. However, with a growing aging population, the opportunity arises for tailor made credit products focused on the Silver Economy (people over 60). With estimates that this population will take, by 2050, a third of the overall spending distribution in most countries.1 Avista has seen a unique opportunity to provide credit products to this unattended population helping them improve their quality of life.

As a big step closer to achieving this, Avista has secured a financing round for US$75M led by four different undisclosed financial institutions in Colombia. This will allow the company to position itself as one of the leading payroll lending Fintech in Colombia through a disruptive technological platform designed for payroll deduction loans. The credits will be allocated among retirees from intermediate, rural and low-income cities in Colombia, who remain underserved by traditional institutions

In keeping up the fast-growing pace, Avista signed an acqui-hire deal with IdeasLab, one of the most prominent tech laboratories in Colombia, focused on designing and creating user-centered experiences through agile methodologies. They have in their portfolio a proven track-record of extraordinary deliveries of digital, user- friendly, credit underwriting platforms. This will help Avista strengthen its already top-tier tech team in order to speed up its automatization and risk processes and improve product development to continue expanding its users base.

About Avista:

Founded in 2019, Avista is a fintech company focused on reinventing people’s financial lives by creating an ecosystem of simple and transparent solutions with the purpose of generating financial inclusion. Avista is a leader in the development of disruptive credit placement channels for the lower segments of the population through innovation in data analysis and a third-generation origination process.