MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S.-based fintech Tala, which grants small-sized loans to clients in emerging markets, has secured a $150 million debt facility to expand its business in Mexico, it said on Wednesday.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Many of Tala's clients in Mexico are small-business owners, chief executive and founder Shivani Siroya said, and the lender plans to allocate a portion of the fresh funds to better serve them.

According to Mexico's statistics agency, some 99% of firms in the nation are defined as micro, small or medium-sized businesses.

KEY QUOTES

"This capital is for the growth of our Mexico business," Siroya told Reuters ahead of the announcement. "As we think about how to widen access, it's ... starting to talk about different platforms, embedded partnerships."

"The second piece is, how do we provide more value?" she said. "So whether that's higher (credit) limits, more dynamic pricing, starting to think about specific credit products."

CONTEXT

The debt facility, which starts at $75 million and allows Tala to draw up to $150 million, was issued with funds managed by U.S. investment firm Neuberger Berman, Tala said in a statement.

BY THE NUMBERS

Tala - which has more than 10 million clients globally - has more than 3 million clients in Mexico, Siroya said, and signed off on more than $500 million in loans in the country in 2024.

Tala's average loan size in Mexico comes in around 2,300 pesos ($115.41), she added.

WHAT'S NEXT

Siroya said there was "more to come this year" for Tala's operations elsewhere in Latin America. At the moment, Mexico is the firm's only Latin American market, though it also operates in Southeast Asia and East Africa.

($1 = 19.9298 Mexican pesos)