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Tala 2018: Our Year in Review

From new team members to new markets, 2018 has been a year of immense growth, learning, and celebration for the global Tala team. We’re excited to share with you, our extended Tala family, our fondest memories and key milestones of the year.

January

April

Raised $65 million in financing.

Read TechCrunch’s feature story on our Series C

July

Took a stand for diversity and equity.

Read our letter.

Opened our engineering center in India.

September

Nominated as a Wired icon by Melinda Gates

Learn more here.

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Spoke about tech and financial inclusion at the UN

Watch the interview.

Rolled out our lowest fees ever in Kenya

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October

Added PayPal as a strategic investor

Read about our partnership.

Took over Manila’s largest train station

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Published our first impact report

Read more here.

Released our first team culture video

November

Launched our first in-app customer education campaign

December

Recognized in the CIO100 East Africa Awards

Relaunched our global website

Our team grew exponentially

We’re growing our credit business on 3 continents

…while also growing our teams.

Radical Trust at scale

Our global team members developed 31
new innovations during our inaugural HACCathons…

…spoke at over 30 conferences and events globally…

…and took dozens of trips into our markets to meet our customers, and other colleagues…

….We supported 12+ nonprofits in the Greater Los Angeles Area…

…hosted 598 members of the LA community with events at our Santa Monica HQ…

…and celebrated 16 global holidays… (including International Women’s Day & the World Cup!)

… and welcomed 17 newborns globally and 14 dogs into the Santa Monica office (with more on the way!)

We also celebrated family time – we spent over 560 hours growing together through team-building and wellness events, happy hours, Lunch-And-Learns, and Ask Me Anything sessions with our CEO.

Our customers look different from place to place

But one thing is the same everywhere: access to credit helps people build the lives they want.

“I used [Tala] to invest in inventory since I’m currently setting up a 2nd pharmacy of my own. Thank you for trusting in me! — Norberto, Mexico

I used my first and second loan to pay for my son’s high school expenses and his college entrance exam. He will be the first family member to attend college and that in part is thanks to the help I have received from Tala. — Claudia, Mexico

Tala is really helpful for a single mom like me. — Michelle, Philippines

I have never met such [a] trusted credit institution like Tala. — Samy, Kenya

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We are proud of our 2018, and we could not have done it without YOU. Thank you for joining us in our work to expand financial access, choice, and control for the underserved globally!

Our mission continues in 2019, with more ambitious goals for our customers and our team. Want to join our mission? We’re hiring! Visit tala.co/careers to learn more.

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