A number of European business angels participated in the Jeff App pre-seed round, the very first company's funding round to date.

Launched in the summer of 2019, Jeff is a loan brokerage solution that utilizes alternative data to boost financial inclusion and has its focus set on South-East Asia. With just 30%[] of the population holding a bank account & even less people being included in credit bureaus according to World Bank data[], there is a massive gap between Vietnamese in need of financing & banks and lenders currently able to service them. And Vietnam is just one of the many nations in the region facing the challenge of financial inclusion.

The users are onboarded to the application via simple chat with Jeff bot, their new best friend for finding great loan offers. Progressing through the application, users are invited to connect data points from different sources to their Jeff App profile. The more data is provided, the higher level is reached, better assessment of a person can be carried out & in turn more loan offers are provided.

“Our mission is to give access to financing for an increasing number of Asian people by utilizing their valuable digital footprint. In the absence of traditional financial data, analysing data from sources like eCommerce, geolocation, alternative payment methods & more become especially valuable. The users are encouraged to connect all these data points to their Jeff App profile, receiving an increasing number of loan offers in return. Over time, we'll be adding promotions and great offers from TelCo's, Insurance & other industries, ” says Toms Niparts, CEO and founder of Jeff App. ”We've gone from 2 people & a heavy pivot in July 2019 to 10 people team between Riga and Ho Chi Minh City, almost 10'000 users and an exciting list of prospects in less than 6 months. This funding round comes as much needed fuel to keep going at the same pace & serves as a tremendous token of trust for our team putting in the amazing work,” Toms adds.

Investors that have taken part in this funding round include Tadas Langaitis (co-founder at Nortal, LHV, angel investor at Kilo Health, Not Perfect, advisor at Debitum, NOIA). The company is advised by Raimonds Kulbergs (ex-Funderful, Salto Network).