Colombian fintech Bold takes $11.7M loan from BBVA Spark for SME lending

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Bold, a Colombian fintech, has taken a bilateral loan of 37.45 billion Colombian pesos, about $11.7 million, from BBVA Spark, the Spanish bank's venture arm. The money will fund loans to Colombian micro, small and mid-sized businesses. Cuatrecasas advised Bold; PPU advised BBVA Spark.

Bold started six years ago selling cheap card readers to shops. It now handles card and QR payments worth some 20 trillion pesos annually for more than 700,000 merchants across Colombia and Peru. It judges borrowers on their sales rather than only their credit-bureau record, which is convenient when you already see the sales. "Credit is the chapter we are writing now," said founder and chief executive José Vélez.