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Sempli

“Can a Colombian SME digital lender broaden into a full embedded-finance platform (cards, insurance, payments) without losing credit discipline?”

Founded2017
HQMedellín, Colombia
FoundersEsteban Velasco, Felipe Llano
Total raised$43.3M (equity) + additional debt facilities
Latest roundDebt, ~$10M (2025); Citi $6M loan (Sep 2023)
IndustryFintech / Lending
The story

Sempli was founded in 2017 in Medellín as a digital working-capital lender for Colombian SMEs underserved by traditional banks, using a proprietary risk model ('SempliScore') over 300+ variables. The 2022 round signaled an ambition to evolve from a single-product term lender into a broader embedded-finance platform for SMEs, with planned insurance, credit cards, payments and advisory products. In practice the company has remained primarily a balance-sheet lender, expanding its loan catalog in 2024–25 with Crédito Flexi (short-term bullet) and Crédito Vehículos rather than launching banking or card products at scale.

Last 12 months
2025
2023-09
Product timeline
2017
Founded in Medellín as online SME lender; first $3.6M round closed· pivot
2019
Series A of $8M led by Oikocredit and Incofin; cumulative funding hit ~$24M· lending
2022
Closed round with CAF, Comfama, Ewa Capital; announced roadmap for insurance, credit cards and embedded finance products· pivot
2023
Citi structured a $6M local-currency loan under DFC/Ford Foundation Scaling Enterprise program (40% to women-led SMEs)· lending
2024
Reached break-even; >4,000 clients served; ~1% share of formal Colombian micro/small business lending· lending
2025
Launched 'Crédito Flexi' short-term bullet loan and Crédito Vehículos vehicle financing· lending
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by Sempli
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
1 layer disclosed in Sempli’s embedded-finance stack
Lending
Sempli (in-house balance-sheet lender)Crédito a término (term loan, COP $60M–$250M, 6–36 months, fixed installments)Crédito Flexi (1–3 month bullet line of credit, COP $10M–$100M)Crédito Vehículos (vehicle financing, new/used up to 5 yrs, up to 110% LTV, up to 60 months)
Accounting gap: minor