Latvian FinTech startup Jeff App raises €150,000 to match borrowers with lenders in South-East Asia

With just 30% of the population holding a bank account & even less people being included in credit bureaus according to World Bank data, there is a massive gap between Vietnamese in need of financing & banks and lenders currently able to service them. And Vietnam is just one of the many nations in the region facing the challenge of financial inclusion. Enter Jeff App, a Latvian FinTech startup that offers a loan brokerage solution which utilizes alternative data to boost financial inclusion and has its focus set on South-East Asia.

Today, Jeff App announced it has raised 150,000 Euros to further evolve its “Tinder for loans” solution in Vietnamese market, as well as expand to Indonesia later in 2020. The round was led by a number of European business angels. Backers in this funding round include Tadas Langaitis (co-founder at Nortal, LHV, angel investor at Kilo Health, Not Perfect, advisor at Debitum, NOIA). The company is advised by Raimonds Kulbergs (ex-Funderful, Salto Network). This is the startup’s funding round to date.

Launched in the summer of 2019 by Toms Niparts, Jeff App has been recognized as a highly promising startup by media, including coverage in Forbes USA print edition, as well as been crowned as the winner of Seedstars national and regional finals, making it to top 50 out of 8’000+ startups worldwide, set to compete for $ 500’000 main prize during Seedstars World Summit in April 2020. The company is currently hiring talented product, marketing and IT specialists in Riga and Ho Chi Minh City.

The users are onboarded to the application via simple chat with Jeff bot, their new best friend for finding great loan offers. Progressing through the application, users are invited to connect data points from different sources to their Jeff App profile. The more data is provided, the higher level is reached, better assessment of a person can be carried out & in turn more loan offers are provided.

“Our mission is to give access to financing for an increasing number of Asian people by utilizing their valuable digital footprint. In the absence of traditional financial data, analyzing data from sources like eCommerce, geolocation, alternative payment methods & more become especially valuable. The users are encouraged to connect all these data points to their Jeff App profile, receiving an increasing number of loan offers in return. Over time, we’ll be adding promotions and great offers from TelCo’s, Insurance & other industries, ” says Toms Niparts, CEO and founder of Jeff App.

”We’ve gone from 2 people & a heavy pivot in July 2019 to 10 people team between Riga and Ho Chi Minh City, almost 10’000 users and an exciting list of prospects in less than 6 months. This funding round comes as much needed fuel to keep going at the same pace & serves as a tremendous token of trust for our team putting in the amazing work,” Toms adds.

You can reach Toms Niparts, Founder & CEO, at: toms@jeff-app.com, +371 277 988 18.