“She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.” — Proverbs 31:20
When traditional banks saw risk, Shivani Siroya
saw people. The founder and CEO of Tala built an $800M fintech company by asking one question: What if we trusted the unbanked?
The Founder: From UN Research to Fintech Unicorn
Siroya started her career as an investment banking analyst and UN researcher. After conducting 3,500+ interviews with microcredit users across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, she saw the gap: 2+ billion people* are creditworthy but locked out of formal finance. No credit score? No loan. So she built Tala in 2011 to underwrite trust with data banks ignore — texts, calls, app usage, merchant transactions.
The Numbers: $1B Disbursed to 4M People
Tala’s Android app delivers microloans from $10 to $500 in minutes, with no credit history required. The result:
- $1+ billion disbursed to 4+ million customers
- 90%+ repayment rate
- Operating in Kenya, Philippines, Mexico, India, Vietnam — 5 emerging markets where 12,000+ new users sign up daily
- Average loan: $150, paid back in ∼30 days
The Backing: $346M+ Raised from PayPal, IVP, Upstart
Tala has raised over $350M total. Its $145M Series E was led by Upstart with participation from PayPal Ventures, IVP, Revolution Growth, Lowercase Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, Kindred Ventures, and J. Safra Group. That round valued Tala north of $800M. PayPal’s early investment signaled what the market now knows: financial inclusion is venture-scale.
The “How Much More” Playbook
Tala isn’t charity. It’s infrastructure. Siroya proved that divine nature — creativity, dominion, radical trust — belongs in fintech. 2 Peter 1:3 — His divine power has granted us all things for life and godliness. For 4M entrepreneurs, “all things” started with $10.
Bottom Line:
Banks underwrite assets. Tala underwrites humans. If God clothes the lilies, how much more will He fund the underbanked through builders like Shivani Siroya?
In Him we live, move, and have our being — even in Nairobi, Manila, Mexico City, Mumbai, and Ho Chi Minh City.
If God’s economy is abundance, what’s our responsibility to build tools like Tala that distribute access?
How do we balance profit + purpose when building for the underbanked, overlooked, underserved, ignored and neglected?
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