Fundraising for an 'Unfamiliar' Market: A Founder's Guide

The Overlooked Opportunity

The biggest startup opportunities aren’t always in the most obvious places. While everyone else is chasing the same ideas in Silicon Valley, massive, unsolved problems are waiting in markets that investors often ignore. The fintech Credijusto is a prime example, having raised over $300 million to tackle a huge one: the credit gap for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America.

Co-founder David Poritz and his team saw that while platforms like Kabbage and Prosper were booming in the US, SMEs in Mexico and other LATAM countries were starved for capital. Traditional banks weren't serving them, creating a vacuum. Their story is a playbook for how to identify, validate, and—most importantly—fund a venture in a market that VCs don't instinctively "get."

How to Find Your "Unfamiliar" Market

Credijusto’s founding thesis wasn’t a random shot in the dark. It was the result of a systematic process of elimination and deep diligence. You can use the same framework to find and validate your own non-obvious opportunity.

Before settling on Mexico, the founders spent months analyzing the entire LATAM region, from Argentina to the US border. Then, they spent months more diving deep into Mexico’s financial landscape. Don't just have a vague idea; build a data-backed conviction.

Your Market Diligence Checklist

Macro-Economic Indicators: Is the country's GDP stable or growing? Is the political climate predictable enough to build a long-term business? · Credit Penetration: What percentage of the target market (consumers or businesses) has access to formal credit? A low number signals a large opportunity. In many emerging markets, this figure is dramatically lower than in the US or Europe. · Incumbent Failures: Who are the dominant players (e.g., big banks), and where are they failing? The gap where incumbents are unwilling or unable to serve customers is where your opportunity lies. For Credijusto, this was SME financing. · Competitive Landscape: Is there a local startup ecosystem? Little competition can be a good thing—it means you have a chance to become the market leader. The lack of a crowded startup scene in Mexico was a green light for them. · Regulatory Environment: Are there "fintech-friendly" regulations emerging? Or is the government hostile to new entrants? This can be a major moat or a deal-breaker. · Local Precedent: Are there any local success stories or case studies? Even small ones? You'll need these to show investors a potential path to an exit.

Pitching the "Unfamiliar": How to Get VCs to Say Yes

Even with a massive opportunity, fundraising for a market like Mexico in the mid-2010s was incredibly difficult. VCs are pattern-matchers. When you present something they've never seen before, their default answer is "no."

Credijusto faced a barrage of rejections. The objections were predictable:

"There are no successful case studies for VC-backed companies in Mexico." · "We don't understand the regulatory risk." · "How will you get an exit? There's no track record of IPOs or large acquisitions."

Their breakthrough didn't come from convincing the skeptics. It came from finding one person who already understood the pattern: John Mack, the former CEO of Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, who had also been on the board of LendingClub. Mack didn’t need to be convinced that online lending was a good business model. He just needed to be convinced that Mexico was a good market. That’s a much easier pitch.

Find Your "Translator" Investor

This is the most critical takeaway. Stop wasting time on VCs who will never get it. Your first goal is to find your "translator"—an investor who understands your model from their experience in a mature market and can help translate its potential to a new geography.

Map your model: What US or European company is the closest analogy to what you're building? (For Credijusto, it was Kabbage and LendingClub). · Identify their backers: Who were the key investors, board members, and executives at those companies? · Target those people: Get a warm introduction to them. Your pitch isn't "Please learn about online lending." It's "You know online lending works. Let me show you why it will work even better in Peru (or Nigeria, or Indonesia)."

Once Credijusto landed John Mack, the dynamic flipped. The social proof from a legendary financier made every other VC reconsider. His investment was a signal that the "unfamiliar" risk had been vetted by someone credible. Suddenly, Goldman Sachs, Point72, QED, and others wanted in.

Fueling the Machine: Equity vs. Debt

The article mentions Credijusto raised $60M in equity and $250M in debt. This isn't a minor detail; it's fundamental to how a lending business operates. If you're building a fintech that holds assets on its balance sheet, you need to master this dual-fundraising strategy.

Equity: This is for building the company. You use VC money (equity) to pay salaries for your engineers, data scientists, and sales team. It pays for your office, your marketing, and your technology stack. It builds the "machine." · Debt: This is for funding your product. In a lending business, the "product" is money. Debt financing from credit funds and other institutions is the inventory you lend out to your customers. It fuels the "machine."

You can't use equity to fund loans—you'd dilute yourself to zero. And you can't use debt to pay salaries. You must run two parallel fundraising tracks, proving to equity investors that you can build a scalable company and to debt providers that you can underwrite loans responsibly.

Key Founder Advice: The Early Moves That Matter

David Poritz’s journey offers a clear blueprint for founders looking to build something meaningful, especially outside of traditional hubs.

1. Get International Exposure Early

Poritz’s comfort with Latin America began with exchange programs in middle and high school. This isn’t just about learning a language; it’s about building an intuitive understanding of a different culture and market. You see problems and opportunities that others miss.

2. Fuse Outsider Perspective with Local Expertise

The founding team was a powerful combination: Poritz, the American founder with a deep passion for the region and connections to capital, and his co-founder, Allan, a Mexican native who had worked in local private equity. This structure is a huge advantage. The "outsider" can see the opportunity with fresh eyes and often has an easier time fundraising, while the "insider" understands the local nuances, culture, and operational hurdles.

3. Master Storytelling

When you're selling a new idea in a new market, your story is everything. You aren’t just selling a product; you’re selling a vision of the future. You must be able to distill a complex market opportunity and a novel business model into a crisp, 15-20 slide narrative that educates, de-risks, and inspires action. As the article notes, this is a skill you must master.

How to Apply This This Week

Identify your closest analogue. What successful company in a mature market is the "pattern" for your business? Make a list of their key executives and early investors. · Draft a "translator" email. Write a concise email to one of those investors. The subject line should be: "[Analogue Company] model for [Your Market]". The body should be three sentences: "I'm applying the [Analogue Company] model to the underserved [your market] market. The opportunity is X because of Y. Can I share a 3-page memo?" · Run the numbers on your market. Go through the market diligence checklist above. Create a one-page document with the key data points for your target geography. This is the foundation of your pitch.