Crowder and Capital Oriental to Boost Uruguay SME Financing

Crowder, Uruguay’s first crowdfunding platform, and Capital Oriental, a corporate finance firm, have signed a commercial agreement to promote the use of crowdfunding in projects aimed at small and medium-sized Uruguayan businesses.

Amid a widespread modernization of the payment system and the emergence and consolidation of various investment alternatives that seek to incorporate small investors into the financing universe and, at the same time, provide smaller projects with the opportunity to raise the necessary funds for their initiatives, Crowder and Capital Oriental have reached a collaborative agreement.

This will allow the corporate finance company to offer small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country the opportunity to obtain financing through Crowder, undergoing an evaluation of their eligibility to issue on the crowdfunding platform and accessing technical assistance in preparing for the offering.

In return, the fintech company Crowder will offer special commercial conditions to SMEs arriving through the Eastern Capital

As expressed Jaime Miller, managing partner of the corporate finance firm, the agreement “will help companies consider the capital market as a valid alternative for obtaining financing, something that may not be their default option.”

For his part, Crowder CEO Guillermo Rodríguez, emphasized the importance of the alliance, especially for SMEs that have “good ideas and a specific need for financing,” but lack “an attractive financial analysis and investment offer design ” to attract investment. In this sense, the agreement will allow them access not only to the platform and collaborative financing alternatives, but also to the technical support they need to achieve successful results.

Sustainable finance, an Eastern Capital market

In a world where sustainable finance becoming increasingly important, Capital Oriental aims to structure investments that reduce environmental impact through various environmental and social instruments.

Miller explained that “many times companies do not have a sophisticated financial department and we present the case to the investors and the legal structure of how to make the investment.” “We define whether we make a trust, if we take private or public debt , or issue it on the stock market,” he explained. The agreement with Crowder will allow for the incorporation of a new financing alternative for its clients.

In any case, the stock market issuance was the tool the firm used to launch the company Zorzal Inversiones Tecnológicas SA on the market, which issued shares via Negotiable Bonds (NB) for a total of 100 million Indexed Units (UI).

The inauguration of crowdfunding in Uruguay

At the beginning of 2024, the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU) enabled the country’s first crowdfunding platform and, and Crowder —a technology startup created by four Uruguayans—thus became a national pioneer in what is commonly known around the world as crowdfunding.

The authorization by the Superintendency of Financial Services of the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU) was the culmination of a long journey that began two years earlier with the idea of ​​creating a solution to the difficulties in accessing financing for businesses and investment for the retail sector; and a long year of procedures to obtain the approval that will finally allow the platform to operate in Uruguay.

With the agreement closed with Capital Oriental, the fintech company Crowder is making progress in its goal of growing crowdfunding in the country, consolidating its position as a solution for accessing investment and financing for companies and institutions. It has currently placed four issues that have met their fundraising goals, and has four more in progress.

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(Featured image by engin akyurt via Unsplash)

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