Pakistan-based lendtech provider AdalFi raises $7.5m

Some 70,000 loans have been disbursed via AdalFi, with lending on track to exceed INR1b ($12.1m) in Q1 this year

AdalFi, a lending infrastructure provider in Pakistan, has raised $7.5m of funding. 

The money will be used to grow its team and provide more Pakistanis with lending options. Currently, less than 4% of Pakistani consumers and businesses take bank loans, according to AdalFi. 

The funding round was led by COTU Ventures, Chimera Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures and Zayn Capital, alongside angel investors including executives from Plaid, a payments platform. 

Some 70,000 loans have been disbursed via AdalFi, with lending on track to exceed INR1b ($12.1m) in Q1 this year. The fintech launched in 2021. 

AdalFi’s digital lending infrastructure helps banks lend to their customers. It has signed up 14 banks, including seven of the top 10 banks in Pakistan.  

The fintech’s proprietary technology scores the transactional data already possessed by banks, enables personalised digital marketing, and provides embedded customer journeys, which can provide instant loans.  

Salman Akhtar, chief executive officer and co-founder of AdalFi, commented: “Pakistan has 50m bank accounts yet only 2m of these individuals and businesses have any credit relationship with their bank. 

“The high cost of loan origination driven by physical verification of identity, assets and financial health has restricted credit access to a thin, top tier of customers.  

“AdalFi’s digital lending platform allows partner banks to instantly credit score the other 95% of their existing customers who have never been lent to and cross-sell loans to them. 

“In essence, we have built better underwriting models for banks.”  

Amir Farha, managing partner at COTU Ventures, added: “The fact that they have already secured partnerships with the leading banks in the country, and have already facilitated new unsecured lending channels for their clients in such a short space of time, gives us confidence that they have an incredibly exciting future ahead of them.”  

Image: AdalFi 

Read more about providing financial services to the unbanked and underbanked population in Pakistan: HugoBank is granted digital banking licence in Pakistan 

Josh Poyser Josh Poyser is an editor at FinTech Intel. He has written about fintech for several years and appeared at FinTech Connect 2023 on the 'Unlocking Success: The Art of Fintech PR' panel.