Kala announced a COP195 billion financing on September 3, equivalent to about $62 million, for a lending business built around Colombia's formal workers and pensioners. The company arranges loans with repayments deducted from a borrower's salary or pension. Its new financing packages existing loans into securities for investors, while Kala continues to handle the borrowers and their repayments.
The product is called libranza: an agreed installment comes out of payroll or a pension payment before the remaining income reaches the borrower's account. A prospective customer needs an employer or pension provider with a Kala agreement, room for the deduction, identification and a phone. An adviser helps check eligibility and complete the digital application. Kala says a poor credit history does not automatically rule someone out, but it does not guarantee approval either. Its customer portal lets borrowers check balances and request certificates after disbursement.
The software covers more than the application. Kala describes an AI assistant that checks requests against lending policy and flags exceptions for an analyst; it says a person makes the final lending decision. Another system compares loan records with payroll-provider data to anticipate failed deductions. That distinction matters because repayment still depends on information and transfers from outside organizations. Kala's borrower guidance says someone who leaves or changes a job still owes the loan and must arrange an alternative payment method.
Founded in 2021, Kala connects investment capital with borrowers and operates the loans from origination through collection. Its investor materials describe a network of roughly 5,000 independent advisers using Kala GO to submit applications, validate identity and obtain electronic signatures. The company says it has served more than 100,000 people and administered more than COP1.5 trillion in credit. Those are cumulative company-reported operating figures, not annual revenue or the current balance of this securities issuance.
Titularice structured the first COP195 billion issuance, and Gramercy Funds Management subscribed to its senior tranche. The securities are backed by Kala-originated loans; this is debt funding, not a disclosed equity valuation. The larger COP1 trillion figure is the program's capacity, not money all raised at this closing. The first issuance is equivalent to about $62.1 million at COP3,140.55 per dollar, the September 3 reference rate reported by El Espectador. La República independently reported the issuance and Kala's continuing servicing role.
The new funding channel makes portfolio operations more important, not less. Kala must keep deductions, reconciliations and collections working even after investors buy the loan-backed securities. The practical test is whether its software and human advisers can support a larger lending book without losing track of missed payments or borrowers whose employment circumstances change. Faster applications alone do not resolve those problems.