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SoftBank-Backed Lender Becomes Mexico Unicorn Worth $1.3 Billion

SoftBank-Backed Lender Becomes Mexico Unicorn Worth $1.3 Billion

Small-business lender Konfio Ltd. has become Mexico’s fourth unicorn with a $1.3 billion valuation following a fresh funding round. 

Softbank Group Corp. participated in the $110 million extension of a Series E round announced on Wednesday, which was led by Tarsadia Capital and QED Investors. 

Founded in 2013, Konfio provides credit to smaller companies that are often under-served by traditional banks. The fintech will use the fresh capital to expand its product offering and to look for acquisition opportunities, the company said in a statement.

Konfio joins only a handful of startups in Mexico that have reached the still rare unicorn status, such as used-car seller Kavak, cryptocurrency exchange Bitso and payment processor Clip

Also behind the round is one of Latin America’s largest venture capital firms, Kaszek Ventures, which raised $1 billion in May and plans to use it to invest in early-stage technology startups in the region.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.