By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerian lending marketplace, Evolve Credit, has raised a pre-seed round of funding to help scale its product, which allows users to compare loans and access unbiased insights from experts.
Pre-seed funding, also known as pre-seed capital or pre-seed money, is the small investment needed to get business startups up and running.
Using Evolve Credit, users can see which loan pays faster, is easier to pay back, and offers the lowest rates, all in one place. The marketplace brings lenders and borrowers together in one place and makes comparison easier.
The startup has now received help with scaling after raising an undisclosed amount of funding from Ingressive Capital, Future Africa, Samurai Incubate, and two angel investors.
Lenders are able to accept loan applications, as well as handle tasks such as portfolio management, credit scoring, disbursement and collections through Evolve Credit’s cloud-based lending software.
Speaking on the funding, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the company, Mr Akan Nelson, noted that, “The startup is working to endpaper applications in financial institutions, as well as increase inclusion and transparency in financial markets giving everyone access to credit regardless of where they are in Nigeria.
“The funds will be used mainly to fund technology development and hire engineering and editorial talent,” Mr Nelson said.
“In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be focused on increasing the number of loan products we have listed on the online marketplace and on onboarding microfinance banks, finance houses, and other financial institutions as lending partners.
“We’ll also be expanding the scope of our reviews beyond loans to other financial products like savings and investments.”
Mr Uwem Uwemakpan, director of fund operations at Ingressive Capital, said it had invested in Evolve Credit because it believes the digital economy cannot work without access to credit.
Dipo Olowookere