San Francisco, California, May 2022 — TrustToken, the core team responsible for building the leading unsecured lending protocol TrueFi, announces the launch of the first independently-managed lending portfolio on TrueFi. Managing the loans will be Cauris Finance, a mission-driven debt financing company backing fintech projects in emerging and frontier markets. To date, Cauris has allocated over $85m to a diverse and growing portfolio of borrowers around the globe, and with TrueFi, is further expanding its lending business on-chain.

The fintech scene is booming in the Global South, with companies focused on these ecosystems accounting for a major share of the total funds African startups raised in 2021. Fintechs are key for promoting financial inclusion in the regions where both businesses and consumers are often underserved by traditional banking. At the same time, Global South fintechs are not immune from the plight that most small and mid-sized businesses face in developing economies. Their higher risk profiles often result in constrained access to credit, both in size and speed, and often on undesirable terms—major pitfalls for their capacity to absorb shocks, scale and explore new markets and revenue streams.    

Cauris Finance will use TrueFi’s lending protocol to issue uncollateralized loans to fintech businesses in the Global South, using blockchain technology to deliver faster and cheaper credit to startups with otherwise limited access to capital, but lucrative yield opportunities. Cauris will manage its own loan book, acting as TrueFi’s first independent portfolio manager. It will issue all funds to end borrowers in fiat, in full compliance with local rules and regulations, using the blockchain only as the backbone for moving value.  

The Cauris portfolio launches with a $2 million cap, expected to grow to $10m this year. The portfolio will immediately be open to all verified non-U.S. investors who complete standard Know-Your-Customer checks.

With the aim of becoming TrueFi’s bridge to emerging world financial opportunities, Cauris’s extensive emerging markets portfolio includes the following fintechs:

• Alma, a sustainable finance investment firm that works with social impact businesses across the globe, and will be the first opportunity included on TrueFi
• Branch, a  fintech using machine learning and smartphone data to facilitate access to lending  
• LipaLater, a fintech providing buy-now-pay-later services for shoppers, currently available in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Nigeria
• Float, a fintech providing SMBs with cash flow management tool with built-in access to business credit
• Jetstream, a fintech providing much-needed credit to exporters, importers and freight forwarders 
• Yofio, a fintech providing point-of-sale microcredit to shoppers in small and micro-businesses in Mexico 
• Asaac, a fintech providing asset financing to gig workers, with a focus on motorcycle purchases for taxi drivers.

“Businesses in the emerging world often lack access to credit,” says Rafael Cosman, CEO of TrustToken. “We are thrilled to see TrueFi bringing liquidity to the most impactful financial opportunities around the world, and truly growing global financial accessibility. Cauris Finance is using the protocol to deliver regulatory-compliant loans to businesses that need them the most, which will help them get a foothold in their target markets and, in the long run, accelerate growth in markets globally.”

“Blockchain is an ideal backbone for the financial services of the future,” says Alexandre Liege, Chief Executive Officer of Cauris Finance. “With TrueFi, we are building the bridge between the blockchain ecosystem and traditional finance, and all that entails in terms of due diligence and portfolio management, as well as AML and KYC. In this way, we can offer businesses in the Global South access to the most capital-efficient credit they can get while providing TrueFi investors high-growth and high-quality investment opportunities.”