Open Co, a Brazilian fintech that specializes in unsecured loans to individuals, is raising 1.5 billion reais ($270 million) through a credit line led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
The Wall Street bank is providing 1 billion reais and the rest will come from local investors, according to Raphael Zagury, Open Co’s chief financial officer. The funds will help the firm start to expand again after fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic forced it to pull back on lending, he said.
Founded earlier this year, Open Co resulted from a merger between Geru, which offers credit to “more established individuals,” and Rebel, which provides loans to young Brazilians, Zagury said in an interview. Both companies had to reduce lending offers by about 50% in March and April of 2020 as delinquency rates on first installments on loans doubled to 10%.
Source: Bloomberg
By Cristiane Lucchesi
