More than 4.9 million SMEs (small and medium businesses) form the backbone of the Mexican economy. They account for 99.8% of all private enterprises and 62.6% of the country’s employment.
Despite the country's positive banking trends, securing financing remains one of the biggest obstacles.
Let's get into it!
Imagine this
Your business is experiencing significant growth but struggling to meet demand.
To address this, you begin to explore a credit line with a bank.
After dedicating months to the application process, including countless emails, documents, and financial inquiries, you receive news from your banker.
They inform you that your application has been approved, but the credit specifications do not align with what you were seeking.
Stressed and frustrated by the time invested, you explore an alternative solution.
That's when you stumble upon Lounn, a platform that connects SMEs with financial partners, enabling you to apply for a credit line in less than a day.
Explain it like I'm five
Lounn makes it easy for businesses to apply for financing from multiple institutions with a single application.
Businesses can save time & resources by obtaining fast answers on their credit applications.
Financial Institutions get better deal flow and make it easier to allocate money.
Their platform works as a bridge by connecting both businesses and financial institutions.
Lounn seeks to become the one-stop solution for SMEs financing.
The ABCs
Industries: Fintech, Banking, Business services
Headquarters: Mexico City, Mexico
Year Operations Started: 2022
Team Size: 4
Raised: USD 25,000 + $50,000 committed **(Raising Pre-Seed)
Investors: Blue Zone Ventures, Jordi Greenham
Business Model: Commission-based on successful deals
Other players:
Traditional & Independent Brokers
Background check
What we like:
Efficiency: Most SMEs lack the workforce and resources to pursue various banks for credit applications. Businesses can target +30 financial institutions with a single application with their platform.
Traction: In their first year of operations, Lounn has helped +50 businesses secure $200M pesos in financing.
Product offering: Founders have bigger plans than just connecting small businesses and banks. They also want to start giving out their own loans in the future and offer multiple financing solutions such as leases, insurance, currency exchange, and mortgages.
Needed Solution: As someone with a financial background specialized in credit, we have seen firsthand the problem SMEs face when seeking credit, especially when applying with +5 banks at a time.
Road Blocks:
Rising Interests: TIIE (Tasa de Interes Interbancaria) has increased from 7.35% to 11.5% within a year, making it harder for SMEs to have the resources to obtain loans from financial institutions. The correlation is clear: as interest rates rise, the more expensive it is to have credit, which results in slower growth for Lounn.
Credit assessment: Their success relies on accurately assessing the creditworthiness of diverse SMEs, many of which may lack extensive credit histories or traditional financial records.
Counterparties: As an intermediary, they’re exposed to the risk of a partner or a business failing to meet its obligations, which could impact their business trust and operations. If Lounn starts providing bad deal flow to financial institutions, things can get messy for them.
The Architects
Jesus Gomez, CEO & Co-Founder, previously Inter Capital
Arturo Arista, CTO & Co-Founder, previously Creative Snippet
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