Vostok Emerging Finance (VEF) today announces that it has made a series D investment of USD 30 mln into leading Brazilian Personal Finance Platform, GuiaBolso, taking the lead in a broader investment round of close to USD 40 mln. VEF is joined in the round by new investor Endeavor Catalyst and existing backers Ribbit Capital and IFC (International Finance Corporation), amongst others. Post the transaction VEF holds a minority position and board representation in the company.
Guiabolso is the leading Brazilian Personal Finance Platform with the mission of transforming the financial well being of ordinary Brazilians. They leverage their proprietary bank data aggregation technology to automatically aggregate people’s financial information so they can better understand their finances and keep track of their budgets. From there, GuiaBolso is in a unique position to offer their customers a range of products from credit reports and financial education tools through to credit and investment products, both through partner institutions and their own subsidiaries. The company’s ability to match its users to better suited and more competitively priced financial products sets it apart in a country with one of the world’s highest interest rates. Founded in 2012, GuiaBolso is based in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Vostok Emerging Finance Managing Director Dave Nangle comments:
“We are excited to announce our largest investment to date in Brazil, reflecting our conviction that Brazil offers one of the best fintech macro opportunities globally. Within that, GuiaBolso is truly unique as a loved and growing consumer brand, that has leveraged its #1 finance app to launch Brazil’s first credit marketplace with real-time online loan approvals. It is well positioned to broaden the suite of financial products from this base. As with all our investments, it starts with great founders and management team, and the GB team is one of the best we have come across in EM fintech. We look forward to supporting Ben, Thiago and the team on the journey ahead.”
GuiaBolso founder, Benjamin Gleason comments:
“We’re delighted to partner with Vostok EF to continue our mission of giving people the complete, precise information they need to make better decisions about how they use their money. Only GuiaBolso aggregates and organizes user bank transaction data to automate the process of tracking spending and contracting curated financial products right on your phone. With this investment, we will expand the reach of our financial hub well beyond our current 3.5 mln users and provide real-time access to additional products to accompany our existing credit offerings.”
Dave Nangle, Managing Director
For further information please contact: Henrik Stenlund, CFO, Tel +46 (0)8 545 015 50
Vostok Emerging Finance is an investment company with the goal of investing in early stage modern financial services companies across emerging and frontier markets. VEF trades in Sweden on Nasdaq First North under the ticker VEMF SDB.
Vostok Emerging Finance’s Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is Pareto Securities AB.
This information is information that Vostok Emerging Finance Ltd is required to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 08.00 CEST on October 18, 2017.
