LenderLink Philippines has secured $1.25 million in seed funding to develop what it says will be the country’s first high-tech, real-time credit bureau, as the fintech startup looks to modernize consumer lending and improve access to credit data.
The oversubscribed round was led by venture capital firms Iterative and Kaya Founders, with participation from Founders Launchpad and Manila Business Angels. It marks LenderLink’s first external fundraising since its founding in 2024.
LenderLink is building an API-driven credit data platform designed to help lenders reduce non-performing loans (NPLs) by enabling real-time reporting and access to credit risk information.
The platform, which has already integrated over 25 million records from five contributing ecosystems, aims to provide early adopters with better participation terms and a competitive edge in lending decisions.
“We’ve spent years in fintech and observed that one of the biggest barriers to affordable lending in emerging markets is the lack of real-time credit data infrastructure,” said Christo Georgiev, CEO of LenderLink. “With this funding, we are addressing this foundational problem by bringing credit into the tech age, leveraging AI, data science, and automation.”
The Philippines’ consumer lending market, estimated at $14 billion, has quadrupled over the past decade but remains constrained by fragmented and outdated credit infrastructure.
LenderLink said its technology could unlock further growth by improving lenders’ risk assessment capabilities while giving borrowers faster and fairer access to credit.
Ray Alimurung, general partner at Kaya Founders, said the startup’s founding team brings “deep domain expertise in fintech, credit assessment, and data science,” adding that LenderLink’s real-time credit intelligence could be pivotal for lenders ranging from traditional banks to digital platforms and buy-now-pay-later providers.
LenderLink’s founders were previously involved with FinScore, a credit scoring company in the Philippines that exited after six years of operations.
The company plans to use the fresh capital to advance its technology, scale operations, and form new partnerships with financial institutions.
Business News Asia