Chilean fintech startup Destacame closes seed funding round

Chile-based fintech firm Destacame announced that it has closed its seed funding round and the funds raised from Accion Venture Lab and Mountain Nazca will be used to support the company’s services within Chile and into Mexico in 2017.

“We are thrilled to expand our work with a network of partners who are equally committed to building a more financially inclusive world,” Jorge Camus, Destacame´s Co-Founder, said. “This financial support, Accion Venture Lab's global experience in scaling businesses and working with companies in the alternative data space, and Mountain Nazca's expertise all over the region, can help scale Destacame's effort in Chile and throughout Latin America.”

The funding round was led by Accion Venture Lab, the seed-stage investment vehicle of financial inclusion leader Accion, which provides management support to innovative startups that expand financial access to the poor and underserved. Destacame has already received strategic advisory services from Venture Lab, as a mentor through the Catalyst Fund. The funding round also saw contributors including Mountain Nazca and other Chilean angel investors.

The algorithm factors of Destacame, an alternative credit scoring platform that uses alternative data to assess an individual's creditworthiness, helps thin- and no-file customers prove their ability to repay loans. It also minimizes the barriers that prevent financial institutions from working with underserved individuals.