Baar-Zug, Switzerland, December 9, 2021
Blue Earth Capital (“BlueEarth”) has committed USD 7 million to Lula Lend (Pty) Ltd. (“Lulalend” or“the Company”). Lulalend, a fintech lending company based in South Africa, provides underserved small- to medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) access to finance. The Company offers loans to borrowers comprising the ‘missing middle’ of small businesses who are often unable to receive financing from traditional financial institutions and microfinance lenders. Recent estimates suggest that only 2% of MSMEs are able to access bank loans, with constrained access to finance being worst for the missing middle as these companies are deemed to large for microfinance and too small for traditional banks. Lulalend offers a broad array of lending products to businesses needing access to capital without the requirement for collateral, quickly underwriting facilities and disbursing loans digitally. Lulalend’s customers play a vital role in the economy and are a significant source of employment, with MSMEs employing between 50-60% of South Africa’s workforce. The South African fintech ecosystem has created an emerging landscape of innovative companies across infrastructure, payments, processing, lending and remittances, and Lulalend has emerged as a market leader in the region offering unsecured loans for small businesses.
Amy Wang, Head of Private Debt of Blue Earth Capital, comments: “We are excited to be able to support the continued growth and success of Lulalend. We believe their business model plays an important role in providing South Africa’s small businesses with much needed financing. Our investment will support the Company to expand its reach to thousands more SMEs and significantly improve clients’ lives, especially during these challenging times.”
Trevor Gosling, CEO of Lulalend, comments: “We are delighted to have BlueEarth as a capital partner as we continue empowering SME’s across South Africa with the funding they need to grow. SME’s play a pivotal role in South Africa employing over 60% of our private sector work force and generating almost 40% of GDP. With better access to funding, these SME’s can have an even more profound socio-economic impact which we are excited to support.”
About Lulalend
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Cape Town, Lulalend is a regulated non-bank financial institution providing unsecured working capital loans to SME owners and sole traders that are unable to access financing from traditional banking institutions. The Company uses a proprietary credit underwriting model to appraise loan applications from prospective borrowers to offer shortterm loans up to USD 150k. By creating an entirely digital experience from start to finish, Lulalend can disburse loans much quicker than traditional banking institutions.
About Blue Earth Capital
Blue Earth Capital is an independent global impact investment firm, headquartered in Baar-Zug,Switzerland with operations in New York, London and Singapore. It manages investment strategies for an international clientele of professional investors who are seeking investment solutions that offer market-rate returns, while also helping to address pressing social or environmentalchallenges. Initiated in 2015 by Urs Wietlisbach and backed by the Wietlisbach Foundation, BlueEarth Capital has been incubated and built-up with the support of Partners Group, leveraging its experience as a leading global private markets firm. Blue Earth Capital is fully owned by Blue Earth Foundation, a Swiss not-for-profit organization.
Investor relations contact
Julia Wicklein
Phone: +41 41 784 64 02
Email: investor.relations@blueearth.capital