Creze

funding gap emerging markets

Creze (officially Prestadora de Servicios Ciclomart SAPI de CV, SOFOM ENR) is a balance sheet lender founded in 2015 and based in Mexico City that originates loans to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across Mexico. As of the end of April 2021, Creze has disbursed over $68m USD since inception, with an outstanding book of just over $17m USD (note that the net portfolio did not grow compared to 2020 due to Covid). The average loan amount is $19,500 USD, the average loan term is 12 months, and almost 90% of loans are paid biweekly.

The company offers a single core loan product aimed at providing working capital to SMEs but lends across most industries. Creze is a technology-enabled lender that has built an origination platform inhouse that allows for a fully online and digital loan application process with 24-48 hour approval times.

Creze is backed by two reputable family offices in Mexico and has attracted several institutional lenders.

Creze is registered as a Mexican SAPI and has over 60 employees. The founding management team is well seasoned and composed of a mix of entrepreneurs and ex-finance/micro-finance people.

General information

BorrowerPrestadora de Servicios Ciclomart
CountryMexico
Head officeCiudad de Mexico
Websitehttps://www.creze.com
Founded14 October 2009
Active on Lendahand since21 October 2021
Credit Score3.17

Financial information per 2023-12-31

Portfolio Overview€49,021,525
Leverage ratio80.40%
Write-off ratio last 12 months0.00%
% investment amount in arrears (>90 days)3.30%

About Mexico

Mexico is a federal republic consisting of 31 states and Mexico City, one of the biggest cities in the world. Spanish is the most widely spoken language in the country and approximately 10 percent of the population speaks an indigenous language. In 2020, Mexico’s economic growth was -8.5% with a strong impact from COVID. Its economy is now recovering with +3% in Q4’20 and +3% to +5% anticipated in 2021. Its most important agricultural export product is corn (4th biggest exporter in the world). The welfare of the people, however, is unevenly distributed; the top 20% earns 55% of the total income and almost one-fifth of the population lives below the poverty line.

Last funded project