Jeff App, a Latvian fintech startup that provides a data-enabled loan brokerage platform for unbanked customers in Asia, announced on Tuesday it raised $1 million through its latest financing round led by the Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN) syndicate with participation from Startup Wise Guys, Taavi Tamkivi (Salv, ex-Transferwise and Skype) and a number of Nordic investors, as well as several angels from the Estonian mobility unicorn Bolt.
Jeff App stated it is on a mission to make financing accessible to hundreds of millions in Southeast Asia.
“Through years spent in FinTech and digital financial services industries, we have come to believe that there has to be a better way to connect borrowers and lending institutions. So we built Jeff.”
While sharing more details about the platform, Toms Niparts, Co-Founder and CEO of Jeff App, stated:
“Jeff helps our users to start building credit history based on their digital footprint, something that is otherwise difficult in a market where 70% of transactions are still done in cash. The more Jeff is used, the more we can learn and innovate with new products. Ultimately, we want to develop Jeff into a financial super app offering a range of products besides loans, such as insurance, mass-adopted digital credit score, and even go beyond finance by adding a range of utility functions.”
Jeff App went onto add that the financing round’s funds will be used to launch new products and fuel growth in Vietnam, its first market, before expanding into further countries in Southeast Asia.
“Jeff App will use the raised funds to launch and scale new products that range from a free credit score and insurance offers to digital discount coupons and mobile wallet cashbacks. It will also help to expand across the region, starting with Indonesia and the Philippines in 2021. The startup also has plans to enter other major economies in South and Southeast Asia.”
