Financial marketplace Jeff raises $2m to take on India, Mexico

Jeff is betting on its ability to track users’ alternative data, such as device screen size and email activity, to build a platform that helps Asia’s underbanked population better access financial services.

Founded in 2019 by two entrepreneurs from Latvia, the company began operations in 2020 with Vietnam as its first market and later expanded to the Philippines and Indonesia. According to the firm, it has achieved positive cash flow in 2023 and surpassed US$10 million in annual revenue.

(From left) Jeff’s founding team of CTO Sandris Artemjevs, CEO Toms Niparts, andCOO Reinis Tenis / Photo credit: Jeff

Jeff has two components to its business. One of which is a platform that allows users to find and compare financial services such as consumer loans, credit cards, and insurance tailored to their specific creditworthiness. The startup says that around 6 million people have accessed 60 million financial products through its platform since its launch.

While Jeff offers this free service for end consumers, it generates revenue by providing data to banks and other fintech firms. For example, the company’s data would be used to recommend an applicant rejected by one lender to another that’s a better fit.

This data comes from activity on its free platform, which users opt in into being gathered, as well as from third-party data, such as those from loans issued by financial institutions.

Jeff has just raised another US$2 million in late-stage seed funding from Presto Ventures, a VC firm based in the Czech Republic. This follows a US$1.5 million seed extension round in 2021, which it used to fuel its Southeast Asia expansion.

Now, the company plans to enter more markets, specifically India and Mexico.

In an interview with Tech in Asia, co-founder Toms Niparts notes that India shares similarities with Jeff’s current markets, such as strong adoption of digital services and a large population. However, this also means facing numerous established competitors, including Mymoneykarma, BankBazaar, and WishFin.

As of now, Niparts isn’t too worried about the competition. He says the startup’s focus on alternative data points has helped it fend off competitors like Moneymax and Loansolutions in the Philippines, as well as TopBank and TheBank in Vietnam.

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According to Niparts, these data points are also more useful to financial players in emerging markets compared to those in countries like the US and Europe. This is mainly due to lower banking penetration in emerging economies, giving banks fewer traditional data points to develop their products. Data from the Philippines’ central bank shows that roughly 44% to 50% of its population remains unbanked, similar to Vietnam.

Currently, Jeff generates most of its revenue in the Philippines, but this could change after entering the Indian market.