Tala closes the Loop by Reentering India
News broke out yesterday that Tala raised $65 million in a round led by Steve Case’s Revolution Fund. Most of the news headlines are stating that Tala raised this money to enter the Indian market making this is one of those interesting anomalies because Tala started its business under the name InVenture in India. As a DSA for MFIs, the regulatory environment in 2012 didn’t permit the sustainability of InVenture’s business model.
As a tough entrepreneur, Shivani decided not to quit just yet but move her business to a place where digital money was ingrained in the daily habits of people i.e. Kenya. There, her model transformed from a credit assessment platform to a lending app and now it is out there creating history! She used the capital raised from IVP, Data Collective, Lowercase Capital, Ribbit Capital, and Female Founders Fund (who have all participated in this round) to expand Tala’s reach to the Philippines, Mexico, and Tanzania.
Now she is returning to the nest where it all began, with a war chest and model that has much more relevance in transforming the digital payment space in India. In my opinion, there could not have been a better time for her return.
This morning the Artha India Ventures team and I spoke to Zach, the head of Tala’s Indian expansion team and he shared a laundry list of people that he is looking to hire. Once I have those JD’s, I will share them in a separate post. I can safely vouch for the fact that you will be working for a company and leader (Shivani) that I deeply respect, and one that I believe will make a huge impact in India and in the world.
Best of luck to Shivani and her Tala team. The Artha team is by your side every step of the way!
42/2018
