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La semana pasada, Bloomberg entrevistó a nuestros co-fundadores tras el anuncio de nuestra nueva línea de crédito por USD 200.000.000 por parte de Castlelake y MidCap Financial. Este financiamiento nos permite seguir trabajando junto a las PyMEs exportadoras de LatAm desabastecidas por los bancos, que necesitan soluciones financieras confiables para seguir sus operaciones y empujar su crecimiento al siguiente nivel.
“Sabemos que el acceso a financiamiento es el mayor obstáculo para estas empresas, y con este nuevo apoyo financiero podemos ofrecer soluciones a una mayor escala", explicó Jacob Shoihet, el CEO de Marco.
Queremos agradecer a Castlelake y MidCap Financial, que creen en nuestra visión de impactar y empoderar a las pequeñas y medianas empresas simplificando, acelerando y reimaginando el comercio internacional con nuevas tecnologías.
“Este es un verdadero punto de inflexión para Marco”, señaló Peter D. Spradling, COO de Marco. “Es una forma de seguir creciendo como empresa, nos garantiza poder mejorar nuestra oferta y expandir el portafolio de clientes.”
La nota completa (en inglés) aquí:
Fintech Marco Targets $350 BillionGap in Latin America Trade Finance
Marco receives $200m credit facility from MidCap, CastlelakeCompany has done more than $250m in deals in two years
By Ezra Fieser, February 27, 2023 at 9:00 AM EST
Marco Financial, a startup providing loans and other services to exporters in LatinAmerica, received a $200 million credit facility that it will use to grow its trade-financebusiness.
The Miami-based financial-technology platform said MidCap Financial Investment Corp.and Castlelake LP are providing the credit, while Arcadia Funds LLC led an $8 millionequity injection.
Founded by a former importer of Uruguayan beef and an ex-sales executive at techcompanies, Marco said it has financed more than $250 million of deals in Latin Americain the last two years. Peter Spradling, who ran the import business, said Marco’s rapidgrowth demonstrates the depth of unmet demand for financing from exporters,particularly small businesses.
“Anything associated with Latin America was just seen as being riskier,” Spradling,Marco’s chief operating officer, said in an interview.
Foreign banks and local lenders have pulled back from lending to small- and medium-sized exporters after tougher regulations were put in place following the 2008 financial crisis. That’s left a financing gap of roughly $2 trillion globally, including at least $350billion in Latin America, according to surveys by the Asian Development Bank.
Marco has set a goal of completing $750 million worth of deals by the end of this year. Inaddition to loans, it provides services such as creating LLCs, buyer credit checks and cargo insurance, said Jacob Shoihet, the chief executive officer who comes from a salesbackground with stints at Yelp Inc. and Groupon Inc. He and Spradling co-founded thecompany three years ago.
Marco now has more than 60 employees and offices in Montevideo and New York. It's focused on agriculture, manufacturing and wholesale trade companies in Mexico,Ecuador, Colombia and Peru.
It will likely seek a new round of equity investments within the next year and a half thatwill value it around $150 million to $200 million, Shoihet said. Marco’s growth comes asother companies have begun to move into trade finance, which is starting to be seen asless of a risk in Latin America.
Marco’s portfolio has not registered a loss since its inception, he said.
“We think we’re at the right place at right time,” Shoihet said. “Hopefully we’ll start tosee a shift in sentiment in the region as a whole.”