Announcing our investment in Evolve Credit! 🎉🎉
The Evolvecredit.co online marketplace helps Nigerians easily review information about different loan products, compare loan product options based on price, terms, and other factors, and then apply for the best offer.
Team
- Akan Nelson — CEO/CFO. He has been balancing ledgers since he was 14, first as part of his family of bankers and small-scale lenders and later as a process analyst with United Bank for Africa (UBA) where he developed nuanced insight into how financial products work. He has also worked in strategic fundraising and sales with African Leadership Academy, and completed short projects as an analyst with Exxon Mobil, Proctor and Gamble, and General Electric.
- Daniel Osineye — CTO. He is a Software Engineer with experience in building and shipping web applications and mobile applications. He has worked and consulted with organizations like African Leadership Academy, Bridge Labs in Johannesburg, and Riby, a cooperative banking platform, in Lagos. He’s also worked with Imisi3D, a Virtual Reality creation Lab in Lagos, Nigeria.
Problem
There isn’t one place where Nigerians can go to get unbiased, complete, and personalized information on which personal, business, and government loan products best suit their needs. Nigeria has thousands of licensed moneylenders, microfinance banks, online lenders, mobile lenders, and commercial banks, all of which have hundreds of thousands of combined loan products between them, and each with different rates and terms. Most borrowers are overwhelmed by all these options and can’t tell what makes one loan product different from the next.
Furthermore, the majority of Nigerian lenders are not fully online and do not yet have end-to-end online application processes. This makes it difficult for borrowers who are not physically mobile to access certain lenders. The overall result is a loan marketplace that has an inclusion, access, and transparency problem.
Solution
Evolve Credit makes loans more inclusive, accessible, and transparent with the evolvecredit.co online marketplace where Nigerians can read in-depth reviews on multiple loan products, compare them side-by-side with similar products, and apply for select products on the marketplace. People also get personalized product recommendations based on their profiles and needs.
The online marketplace is linked to Evolve Credit’s cloud-based loan management system, which enables lenders to receive applications online, manage their loan portfolio, automate loan disbursements and collections, and develop credit scoring models in one place.
Evolve Credit’s vision is to completely eliminate paper from the loan and financial product application process so that people can apply for a loan, open a savings account, or get car insurance completely online and without having to visit a physical branch.
“Our mission is to move the financial industry to a fully remote experience for all financial products, where users can see all of their options in one place and shop around for the best loans and financial products straight from their mobile phones.” — Akan Nelson
This structure has the potential to be massively successful, as evidenced by other sophisticated online loan marketplaces like NerdWallet in the US, GoCompare in Europe, and BankBazaar in India.
Market
What made us excited about the market
Initially, Daniel and Akan set out to understand the loan and credit space in Nigeria by building a mobile application that allowed consumers to access personal loans at the point-of-sale from select merchants.
They quickly learned that Nigerian borrowers did not have proper access to information about the prices, terms, and other features of financial products, specifically loan and credit products, in the marketplace. As a result, the founders discovered that Nigerian consumers often purchased products that were not well-suited to their needs and expectations.
Based on the research, learnings, and insights from building a loan product, the founders found significant opportunities in the N17.5T private sector lending market to:
- demystify the confusing loan marketplace for consumers.
- help lenders generate higher-quality leads and migrate their loan application processes online.
The Team
Why we believe in/backed this team
Apart from exhibiting a cohesiveness that partners only dream about, the Evolve Credit team has consistently shown doggedness in executing its goal to tangibly impact the private lending space — Nigeria first.
Akan and Daniel have always talked about how highly customer insight and feedback rank in their process. In the last months, Akan has held the reins of Product, Finance, Customer management, and Partnerships, continuously digesting customer feedback and wisely identifying non-negotiables as they iterate. Daniel on the other hand has taken charge of Evolve’s technology, making sure it stays relevant and speaks to the needs of the average working-class Nigerian. This division of labor has helped the team cover more ground as they’ve built Evolve Credit.
Traction
Evolvecredit.co went live on the 4th of May 2020. Since then, it has processed over 5,000 loan applications from its 17,000 registered users and 20,000+ monthly visitors. Evolve Credit is now integrating with the wider lending community, including licensed microfinance banks, finance houses, and moneylenders in the country.
Conclusion
The Evolve marketplace is easily navigable, provides expert insights, and creates a wealth of information on loan products in one place. By educating the populace on the best options for private loans, Evolve Credit makes a previously hazardous and touchy subject a less treacherous terrain to navigate.
Its value to lenders is also undeniable as it reduces the need to spend marketing dollars and hours on LinkedIn in order to create a quality pipeline of pre-qualified applicants.
We are excited to be working with the Evolve Credit team on their journey to building Africa’s #1 loan marketplace.
If you would like to find the best loan offers, click here to get started with Evolve Credit.
At Microtraction, our long term mission is to accelerate Africa’s transition to a sustainable and developed economy. We do this by investing in entrepreneurs who leverage technology, capital, and innovation to try and solve some of the largest problems on the continent. If you are working on solving one of these problems, we should talk!
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