Fintech app Tala just raised a $145 million Series E fundraise led by Upstart with participation from the Stellar Development Foundation. New investors Kindred Ventures and the J. Safra Group, along with existing investors including IVP, Revolution Growth, Lowercase Capital, and PayPal Ventures also joined the round, bringing Tala’s total funding to more than $350 million.

Tala will use the investment to accelerate the rollout of its new financial account experience, which provides customers with fresh tools to borrow, save, and manage their money, all through Tala’s consumer finance app. Tala will also grow its team across India, Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines, and the United States and pull forward plans for both geographic and product expansion, including crypto offerings.

Leveraging the Stellar network, Tala will also use this funding to develop the first mass-market crypto product for emerging markets, advancing a core promise of digital currency ecosystems by making more affordable and equitable financial tools available to populations that can benefit the most from the crypto economy.

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“Tala has spent the past seven years delivering critical and valued services in markets where the financial system is fundamentally broken for millions of people,” said Shivani Siroya, founder and CEO, Tala. “This new investment will accelerate our path to becoming the primary financial account for the global underbanked and helping millions more people make progress in their financial lives. Paul Gu and Denelle Dixon are visionary leaders who share our commitment to building a financial system that works for everyone, and we are thrilled to welcome them to the team.”

Credit options

As part of this fundraise, Paul Gu, co-founder of Upstart, and Denelle Dixon, CEO and executive director of the Stellar Development Foundation, have joined Tala’s board of directors.

“Under Shivani’s leadership, Tala has begun to tackle the single hardest and biggest problem in consumer finance: enabling access to credit in the developing world,” said Gu. “Upstart shares Tala’s belief that technology is the key to unlock access for the underserved, and we’re excited to support them in serving the next one billion people entering the financial system.”

“This Stellar Enterprise Fund investment represents our high confidence in Tala’s technology, traction, and leadership — supporting their growth made perfect sense,” said Dixon. “Joining forces with Tala to improve access to financial services for millions of people in emerging markets is exactly aligned with our mission at Stellar Development Foundation. Since the Stellar network leverages interoperability with the world’s existing financial systems, Stellar and Tala technology together are a powerful tool to bridge gaps for those who have been left out.”

In addition to payments and savings, Tala’s evolved account will offer an expanded range of personalized credit options, including longer-term loans and credit that can be configured to match customers’ income cycles. Since launching in Nairobi in 2014, Tala has delivered more than $2.7 billion in credit to more than six million customers across India, Kenya, Mexico, and the Philippines. More than 12,000 new users sign up for Tala services every day.

In the Philippines, Tala has already provided service to 1.6M Filipino borrowers through its innovative mobile application. Globally, it has received outstanding reviews from over a million users.