Fiserv, LG again Korea Credit score Knowledge because the SME-focused fintech startup raises one other $24.7M • TechCrunch

In South Korea, there are about 7.3 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) — outlined as corporations with lower than 250 workers. Their workforces mixed make up 83.1% of all company workers within the nation, totaling about 17.1 million folks, in line with OECD knowledge.

To assist meet SMEs’ monetary wants within the nation, Seoul-based fintech startup Korea Credit score Knowledge (KCD) stated Thursday that it has raised $24.7 million in Collection D extension financing.

Strategic traders — Fiserv, a Nasdaq-listed fintech firm, and LG Uplus, a telco unit of LG Company — participated within the extension spherical. In complete, KCD has raised about $70 million in its Collection D spherical and about $112 million since its 2016 inception, stated CEO of KCD Kelvin Dongho Kim.

The most recent financing values the corporate at roughly $776 million (1.1 trillion KRW). KCD was valued at about $563 million in November final yr when it raised $28.1 million in its Collection D1.

The startup needs to handle small retailers’ ache factors by offering digital monetary companies, Kim informed TechCrunch. In 2017, KCD launched its bookkeeping app for SMEs, known as Money Observe, which helps small and mid-sized enterprise house owners monitor a complete overview of money circulate, together with revenues, bank card gross sales and expenditure. The app additionally offers companies like SMEs’ gross sales ledgers and coverage data. It allows small enterprise house owners to attach with different entrepreneurs of their communities seeking to scale their companies.

Most small and mid-sized enterprise house owners with low credit score information usually battle to safe working capital loans and survive tight money circulate, in line with Kim. So the startup added SME-focused lending companies to its platform, connecting MSMEs entrepreneurs to entry capital mortgage packages, Kim stated.

KCD claims that it has greater than 1.7 million registered retailers in South Korea and its app has grown into a brilliant app amongst small and mid-sized enterprise house owners.

KCD has acquired South Korean startups, together with ImU, a POS (level of sale) service supplier, and Persona, a authorities subsidiary alert service for SMEs. The corporate plans to make use of its recent capital to develop its group of 230 and make extra acquisitions.

Its earlier backers embrace KB Kookmin Financial institution, KB Securities, GS Holdings, KT Funding, Pavilion Capital, Shinhan Card, Samsung Fireplace & Marine Insurance coverage, Kakao and Kclavis.