Chilean fintech Creditú announced the arrival of its property financing solution in Brazil this Thursday (25). Founded in 2017, the startup also operates in the Peru and Mexico markets, as well as Chile. The operation is the company’s biggest international expansion and takes place after a BRL 100 million round led by AVLA Group.
In its first three years of operation in Chile, Creditú informs that it has offered BRL 1.5 billion for real estate financing of 3,000 family homes. In its host country, the fintech reached a 1% market share, with monthly growth of 20%.
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“We arrived in the Brazilian market with the main objective of serving an underserved segment, such as self-employed workers, salespeople, entrepreneurs, young people, either because they do not have the minimum entry fee required by large banks or because they do not have a 100% formal income”, explains the CEO of Creditú, Ignacio Álamos.
We arrived with an innovative technological and financial proposal to provide access to real estate credit.
Ignacio Álamos, CEO of Creditú
Digital mortgage model gives more access
Despite the growth in the Brazilian real estate market, the fintech believes that the country has an even greater potential for development, due to the low penetration of the real estate loans portfolio over the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2020, the total real estate loans represented around 10% of the national GDP, indicating that the market is still developing in this sector compared to Chile (26%), the United States (60%) and the Netherlands (90%).
“The real estate market has grown significantly in recent years, but there is still plenty of room for expansion, especially when we talk about access to credit for the profile of workers without accumulation of reserves, informal or without proven income, a relevant percentage of the Brazilian population ”, comments the brand’s strategy manager in Brazil, Lucas Santana.
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According to data from Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and the country’s Ministry of Economy Companies Map, in Brazil, 37 million people work in informal jobs and more than 10 million work as individual micro-entrepreneurs.
“Our vision is that the Brazilian market is becoming increasingly digital and innovative from the point of view of real estate companies and proptechs, but it has not yet presented any relevant innovation in recent years in credit products for property acquisition”, adds Santana.
In order to obtain better conditions of access to financing for its clients, Creditú designed an operation that considers the origination of real estate credit combined with credit insurance (in addition to traditional housing insurance). Credit insurance can be taken out with AVLA, a group company, or with other partners.
The startup promises a more agile process than financing from traditional banks, carrying out all procedures within 20 days. In Chile, this deadline is even faster: being resolved in just one week.
Fintech estimates closing the first year of operation with BRL 100 million in originated credits, and BRL 3 billion in a five-year period.
