The $2 million loan will favor the financial inclusion of businesses that traditionally face problems with access to credit

IDB Lab, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), will finance the fintech Prestamype with $2 million to improve access to credit for micro and small enterprises in Peru. The loan will drive the financial inclusion of a spectrum of underserved businesses that, in many cases, lack the credit history or level of formality needed to access financing.

Prestamype offers a financing solution that combines mortgage guarantees with technology to optimize the process. This allows the fintech to lend micro and small businesses more significant amounts than those provided by the market, at lower interest rates than traditional financing and with shorter times for the approval and disbursement of the loan. Its clients, 43% of which are women, are primarily engaged in services, commerce, leasing, manufacturing, and construction and mainly request loans for the purchase of merchandise, raw materials, and machinery or to support the construction or remodeling of their business.

IDB Lab’s loan will allow the Peruvian fintech to increase its supply of financing, strengthen its lending capacity, improve loan conditions, and increase the number of companies that receive a first formal loan. Likewise, it will expand its geographical coverage by beginning to serve small and medium-sized enterprises outside Lima.

“When we put technology at the service of inclusion, we advance the development of our region. Facilitating access to finance for micro and small businesses in Peru by leveraging innovation and entrepreneurship favors the sustainable and inclusive growth we seek at IDB Lab for Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Irene Arias Hofman, CEO of IDB Lab.