The archive · Money & Fintech · Strategic decision · 2021-2025
Kala bets payroll-deductible loans can credit Colombia's unbanked; $61M raised
Bogotá fintech Kala moved from lending SaaS to direct payroll-deductible credit for strata 2-3 Colombians, closing a $55M debt round in 2025.
Kala
What the business is
Colombian fintech lending to the unbanked through payroll-deductible loans, disbursing cash in hours and collecting repayments directly from borrowers' salaries.
Starting capital：US$6M equity - US$2M pre-seed (Canary, Acrew, Clocktower) and US$4M seed led by Cometa in Apr 2023 - plus a US$55M debt facility announced Dec 2025, for US$61M total.
How it started
Manuel Alemán (ex-Alphacredit), Rodolfo Lazo and Pablo Cattolica founded Kala in Bogotá in 2021 to digitize credit for banks, finance companies and businesses selling on credit; the platform launched in July 2022. Alemán had led Alphacredit's operations, and the team set out to turn 'any lender into a fintech' so small institutions could serve markets big banks ignore.
What happened
Kala raised US$2M pre-seed (Canary, Acrew, Clocktower) and a US$4M seed led by Mexico's Cometa in April 2023 (US$6M total), and by 2025 had moved into direct payroll-deductible lending for people in socioeconomic strata 2 and 3 - including borrowers up to 90 years old. In December 2025 it closed a US$55M debt facility advised by Gunderson Dettmer, bringing total capital to US$61M, and said it would use the funds to serve more than 10,000 customers and expand nationwide.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
Kala is a Bogotá fintech founded in 2021 by Manuel Alemán (ex-Alphacredit), Rodolfo Lazo and Pablo Cattolica. It started as B2B SaaS infrastructure that let small banks, cooperatives and companies selling on credit run digital lending - by April 2023 the platform had processed more than 50,000 loans for three clients in Colombia and Mexico and had raised US$6M.
By 2025 Kala had evolved into a direct lender focused on Colombians traditional banking ignores: people in socioeconomic strata 2 and 3, including borrowers up to 90 years old. Its product is payroll-deductible credit - the loan is approved quickly and repayment is collected straight from the borrower's salary, which turns a thin-file customer into a low-collection-risk one.
In December 2025 Kala closed a US$55M debt financing (Gunderson Dettmer advised) that took total capital to US$61M and was earmarked to expand operations nationwide and reach more than 10,000 customers during 2025. CEO Alemán framed the round as proof that Colombia's credit market is attractive to international capital when the technology is built for the excluded segment.
What has to be true
- Payroll deduction is the structural wedge: repayment is secured before the borrower spends the salary, so Kala can lend where credit-history-based scoring says no.
- Strata 2-3 households are a large, bank-ignored segment whose demand is proven by rejection, not by acquisition spend.
- The SaaS origin gave Kala the credit-decisioning engine and unit economics before it took balance-sheet risk, so the move into direct lending reused existing infrastructure.
- Debt, not equity, fit the model: with predictable payroll-deducted cash flows, a US$55M facility is cheaper capital than dilution at startup stage.
What can be applied
Repayment design beats risk scoring: payroll deduction turns a borrower banks reject into collector-proof credit if the digital process is fast enough for small-ticket economics to work.
Aftermath
As of December 2025 Kala is scaling payroll-deductible lending across Colombia with more than 10,000 customers served in 2025 and US$61M in total capital (US$6M equity, US$55M debt). The funding announcement said proceeds would expand nationwide operations; the company's stated goal is to open credit to people traditional banks reject, with fast digital approvals and disbursement in hours. Its evolution from lending SaaS to direct lender positions it against both incumbent banks and other fintech lenders in Colombia's underserved credit market.
Sources
- Colombia-Based Kala Announces New $55M Financing
- Kala raises $55M in debt to expand financial inclusion in Colombia
- Kala recauda US$6 millones con su infraestructura para otorgar créditos en línea
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