Brazilian FinTech Rebel Lands $10M For Affordable Loan Products

Rebel, a Brazilian FinTech that offers unsecured credit to middle-class citizens in the country, has raised $10 million in new equity funding, according to a press release.

Last year, the company also raised $4 million from XP and other companies. Participants in this round include Monashees, 99, Loggi and FinTech Collective. The company said it has gotten more than $1 billion in loan requests since it started.

“For decades, our banking system has made no sense, resulting in a distorted relationship between consumers and credit,” said Rebel CEO Rafael Pereira. “We want to offer democratic and accessible credit products. When put to good use, they can be an extremely beneficial tool in people’s lives. Traditional banks claim that credit in Brazil is expensive because of delinquency rates; but in reality, delinquency is high because the country has the highest interest rates in the world. It is a perverse and vicious cycle, and a difficult one to overturn. That’s why we are rebels: Our goal is to break up with this loop and start a new and virtuous cycle.”

The money will be used to invest in new products and technology, to help with distribution channels, and to help feed a growing customer base. Some of it will also go into cash reserves.

FinTech Collective, based in New York City, has invested in two other companies like Rebel, companies that want to push forward in the field of data-driven consumer finance. One is a U.S. digital bank called MoneyLion, and the other is a European finance company called Anyfin.

“We take an interest in companies that are willing to redesign their markets, led by entrepreneurs with a strong strategic vision and the discipline to execute,” said Sean Lippel, principal at FinTech Collective. “We believe that Rebel has the opportunity to not only repair the broken USD $100 billion unsecured consumer credit market in Brazil, but also expand the availability of credit in the country by changing the way Brazilians relate to their personal finances.”