I am very happy with this newsletter’s reach. I had no idea it would be such a huge success. For me it is special because I feel each week that I am indeed helping foster the LatAm Tech ecosystem. On one end, founders that are under the radar get the spotlight and funds from across the globe get to know what they are doing. On the other, these funds are able to contact the founders with the help of my newsletter! There is also another positive outcome: established companies that like the story, reach out for a partnership (as seen twice last week). It is a win-win!
Luckily, I continue to receive a good amount of interesting early stage companies to share here. So, even though I said “every other Wednesday” on the first edition, I will send another one today (and every week I feel there is a startup worth sharing with you) but the rule is on a bi-weekly basis here, and a weekly basis for the usual LatAm Tech Weekly 😊
As you know by now, this series is dedicated to very early stage startups that are under the radar – and have a good story to tell. The basic criteria is a company that is not on the media/spotlight and is NOT actively raising proceeds. There is also no bias – apart from the fact that I like the story. I am not an investor or get any financial compensation to promote startups featured. This is intended for informational purposes only, using my solid base of subscribers to share intel of good people doing cool things. If you read this, and want to get to know the founder - feel free to respond and I will happily connect you!
Lara: Empowering dental, aesthetics, and other health & wellness clinics with a white-label platform for fast, reliable, and user-friendly credit approvals.
Business Overview:
Lara is a “Care now, Pay later” platform for healthcare clinics in Brazil. Lara helps healthcare clinics to serve 25-30% more clients who are otherwise unable to avail private healthcare. Since its launch in June 2021, Lara has already helped more than 6500 clients get access to treatments and has more than 240 clinics in its network.
Brazil has the second highest per capita private healthcare consumption after the US but increasing healthcare expenses come heavy on individual savings, opening up opportunities for on-demand credit in the healthcare sector. Targeting more than 100,000 healthcare clinics in Brazil, Lara is unlocking a 9.5bn dollar market opportunity.
What problem is it solving?
Due to improperly analyzed and priced consumer credit, private healthcare clinics in Brazil lose a significant amount of customers every month. That’s why Lara built a white-label plug-in solution that allows clinics to convert and retain customers, while enabling Lara to originate high-quality loans. Already, some dental clinics provides loan orgination of 120,000 reais per clinic per month at almost zero CAC.
Step 1 - Acquisition
The healthcare professional fills in the credit application for its clients on Lara’s platform at the point of sale. The GraphQL API takes on the complexity of handling data from the clinic side and generates stickiness with an easy-to-integrate solution that is fully white-label for the clinic.
Step 2 - Credit Analysis
Lara’s fully automated consumer credit engine performs a reliable credit analysis on the client in a few seconds. Lara’s in-house engine mixes standard credit policies and strong merchant potential liability controls. Once approved, the client chooses an installment plan and signs the contract via its mobile device.
Step 3 - Collection
Lara’s in-house team handles the payment collection for the client. Lara sends a direct message on Whatsapp to the client with payment reminders and the client can easily make the payment with their preferred payment method.
Value proposition for Healthcare clinics and clients
Key Metrics:
● Currently serving 240 healthcare clinics with 320 clinics on waiting list
● 6500 clients approved
● BRL +28M in loan orgination
● Non-Performing Loans at 7.3%
Real Use Case:
Lara enabled dental clinic chain Odontocompany to increase its revenue by 25-30% across eight of its clinics in the central west of Brazil, helping more than 1450 people to receive dental treatments.
Main clients:
● Sp Implantes
● Odontocompany
● Oralsin Implantes
● Sorridents
● Dentista Mais
● Odontoclinic
Team: