What Colendi does

Colendi is a Turkish embedded-fintech company founded in 2018 that targets financially underbanked consumers, merchants, and financial institutions through a mobile-first consumer app and a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform. Its core product is an alternative credit scoring and micro-lending engine that uses machine-learning algorithms trained on approximately 3,500 data points — including real-life behavior, smartphone, telco billing, merchant transactions, and social media — to deliver credit decisions in under 30 seconds with a stated approval rate above 80%, independent of traditional banking history. The consumer app additionally offers Buy Now Pay Later, QR/wallet payments, and a multi-asset investment product covering precious metals, foreign exchange, fractional stocks, and cryptocurrency, while the business side exposes the same primitives through Financial Services APIs, a Scoring Protocol for fraud and credit, and a Credit Marketplace of more than 1,000 merchants.

The company generates revenue from transaction fees on micro-credit and BNPL, spreads and fees on investment products, and licensing/service fees from B2B partners embedding its infrastructure under their own brand — reaching both a direct user base of 7–10 million and an additional ~100 million individuals through joint-venture partners. Strategic capital has been deployed to expand technology and reach: a $150 million credit line from Fibabanka in October 2022, acquisitions of blockchain-infrastructure firm SETL (London) in September 2022 and mobile gaming/crypto platform Hadi (10M users) in December 2022, and a $65 million Series B in May 2024 at a $700 million post-money valuation led by Citi Ventures. The company is led by co-founder and Global CEO Bülent Tekmen, with a board that includes former Barclays chairman Sir David Walker, Honorary Banque de France Governor Christian Noyer, and Hannam & Partners founder Ian Hannam — a roster atypical for a Series B-stage Turkish fintech and indicative of ambitions for cross-border, regulated-market expansion.

Name

Colendi

Legal name

Colendi

Website

https://colendi.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Colendi is a Turkish embedded-fintech platform offering alternative ML-based credit scoring, micro-credit, BNPL, payments, and multi-asset investment services to underbanked consumers and B2B partners via mobile app and Banking-as-a-Service APIs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Embedded Fintech Platform

NAICS

Consumer Lending (522291), Nondepository Credit Intermediation (5222), Sales Financing (522220), Credit Bureaus (56145), Credit Intermediation and Related Activities (522)

SIC

Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320), Personal Credit Institutions (6141), Finance Services (6199), Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)

akta.pro primary industry

Embedded Lending & Credit (POS, Working Capital, Credit Lines) (FSAGALAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

BNPL Consumer Apps & Wallets (Discovery, Management) (FSAGAIAG), BNPL Underwriting & Credit Decisioning Platforms (FSAGAIAD), Consumer Credit Decisioning & Underwriting Platforms (FSAKAKAG), Marketplace & Loan Aggregation Platforms (Borrower-Lender Matching) (FSAGAHAL), DEX Aggregation & On-Chain Execution (routing, RFQ, intent-based trading) (FSAPAEAD), Risk, Compliance & Controls for Embedded Finance (KYB/KYC/AML, Fraud, Disputes) (FSAGALAK)

Keywords

• Embedded fintech services
• Alternative credit scoring
• Banking as a service
• Buy now pay later
• Micro credit lending

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Micro Credit / Lending: Colendi provides instant micro-credit decisions using alternative scoring, earning interest and fees on loans. Credit products include interest-free micro-credits with BNPL, delay, defer, and installment options.
2. Buy Now Pay Later: BNPL services enabling businesses to offer installment options to customers. Revenue generated through transaction fees and merchant partnerships.
3. Investment Services: Platform offers investment in precious metals (gold & silver), foreign currencies, fractional stocks, and cryptocurrencies. Revenue likely from spreads and transaction fees.
4. Banking As A Service / API Services: Colendi provides embedded fintech services and Financial Services APIs to third-party platforms (JV partners, merchants), generating revenue through licensing and service fees.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Colendi provides embedded banking services through a Banking-as-a-Service platform and a direct-to-consumer mobile app. It uses a blockchain-based decentralized scoring protocol with machine learning over 3,500 data points to deliver instant micro-credit, BNPL, digital payments, and investments (precious metals, FX, fractional stocks, crypto) to underbanked consumers, while enabling third-party businesses to embed branded financial services via APIs and a credit marketplace of 1,000+ merchants.

Product overview

Colendi is a fintech platform providing embedded banking services through a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core personal offering includes Just in Time Finance with Alternative Scoring (using 3,500 data points and machine learning), Buy Now Pay Later, Instant Payment Options, Invest (precious metals, forex, fractional stocks, crypto), and Manage Your Wallet. For businesses, Colendi offers Embedded Fintech Services via Financial Services API, Scoring Protocol for fraud and credit assessment, Micro Credit, and a Credit Marketplace of 1,000+ merchants. The company also operates a Decentralized Protocol leveraging blockchain for global financial identity scoring. The platform serves 7M+ users with 5M+ credit transactions and supports 10M+ users through business partners.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Alternative Scoring Machine-learning-based credit scoring system that evaluates 3,500 data points to produce unbiased, dynamic credit scores, enabling individuals without traditional credit history to receive personalized scores. Used directly by consumers and licensed to business partners through the Scoring Protocol.
• Buy Now Pay Later BNPL service that lets consumers finalize purchases with interest-free micro-credits, delay options, or installments, and enables businesses to offer feasible installment options with low or no costs to their customers.
• Instant Payment Options Digital payment service enabling QR-based and wallet-based transactions for daily purchases and bill payments without paperwork.
• Invest Comprehensive investment platform covering precious metals (gold and silver), foreign exchange (USD, EUR, GBP), fractional stocks, and cryptocurrencies, with buy, sell, hold, save, and trade capabilities in one app.
• Manage Your Wallet Digital wallet offering pay, send, spend, track, invest, and trade features that let consumers take control of their assets in a single app.
• Embedded Fintech Services (BaaS) Banking-as-a-Service platform that enables third-party companies and JV partners to provide branded financial services including identity verification, credit scoring, micro-credit, BNPL, money transfers, prepaid cards, e-money accounts, QR payments, and crypto trading.
• Financial Services API API infrastructure providing customizable, easily integrable financial solutions for partner platforms, enabling payment processing, credit scoring, micro-credit, BNPL, investment, and wallet management as added-value services.
• Micro Credit Short-term interest-free micro loans with BNPL, delay, defer, and installment options that businesses can offer to their customers as personally adjusted credit without sudden financial burden.
• Credit Marketplace Digital credit marketplace network of 1,000+ merchants offering instant credit with optimized rates, enabling business partners to expand operations through Colendi's embedded fintech ecosystem.
• Decentralized Protocol Blockchain-based infrastructure providing a decentralized scoring engine with distributed data evaluation through blockchain nodes, producing a global Colendi Financial Passport without central data collection or sharing.

Quantifiable outcome

• 7,000,000+ users and 5,000,000+ credit transactions delivered
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• SETLcoreTechnology or Integration · 2 September 2022Colendi acquired London-based SETL, a blockchain platform specializing in payment and reconciliation systems for regulated institutions. The acquisition aims to boost Colendi's growth, expand technological capabilities, and develop new blockchain infrastructure for decentralized finance applications.
• 1,000+ Merchants (Credit Marketplace)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorColendi's credit marketplace network includes over 1,000 merchants offering instant credit with optimized rates, enabling business partners to expand their operations through the embedded fintech ecosystem.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Papara: Turkish digital wallet and fintech super-app offering prepaid cards, payments, investments, and credit products. Direct competitor to Colendi's consumer wallet, credit, and BNPL offerings in the same primary market.
• Param: Turkish fintech providing embedded payments, e-money, and BaaS infrastructure to merchants and platforms. Competes directly with Colendi's BaaS and credit marketplace in Turkey.
• Midas: Turkish investment and trading app offering stocks, funds, and crypto to retail consumers. Overlaps with Colendi's Invest product (fractional stocks, FX, precious metals, crypto).
• Sipay: Turkish payment institution providing digital payment processing, POS, and BaaS APIs to merchants. Competes with Colendi's BaaS/payments and merchant-facing infrastructure.
• Fimple: Turkish core-banking and lending technology provider serving financial institutions with cloud-native software. Adjacent overlap with Colendi's BaaS and scoring-protocol services to banks.
• Solarisbank: Germany-based Banking-as-a-Service platform providing regulated APIs (accounts, cards, lending, KYC) to embedded-finance partners. Closest European comparable to Colendi's BaaS/embedded-lending model.
• Tala: Emerging-markets digital lender using alternative data for credit decisions to underbanked consumers in Mexico, Kenya, the Philippines, and India. Closest international comparable to Colendi's alternative-scoring micro-credit model.
• Branch International: Mobile lending platform serving underbanked consumers in Africa and India using smartphone-based alternative credit scoring. Direct peer on the underbanked-credit, ML-scoring thesis.

Broad incumbents

• Marqeta: Public card-issuing and payments infrastructure platform serving fintechs and banks. Comparable as an enabling BaaS/issuing incumbent that embedded-finance players like Colendi integrate with or compete against for wallet/payment rails.
• Plaid: Broad fintech-data and connectivity incumbent providing account-linking, KYC, and bank-data APIs. Comparable as a global standard for embedded finance infrastructure that Colendi's Financial Services API sits alongside or competes with.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ColendiApp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/colendi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors14 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments12 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Colendi