Facebook Teams With Mexico SMB Alt-Lender Konfio

Facebook is collaborating with a Mexico-based alternative small business lender with plans to launch a new program in the country aimed at strengthening local SMBs’ finances.

Reports in Contxto Thursday (Sept. 5) said Facebook and alt-lender Konfio will co-develop the Aula Morada program, a series of events designed to provide informative support for small businesses across Mexico. Targeting about 8,000 businesses, the events will take place in various cities with both Facebook and Konfio offering conferences and workshops to educate and support entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Those events will focus on a range of topics, including talent attraction, funding, technology adoption, sales and marketing.

At the same time, Facebook will debut its Impulsa Facebook initiative, which will focus on helping small business owners strategically use Facebook for customer outreach and marketing.

“We want to create a community where entrepreneurs can acquire new skills and create strategic relationships that allow them to lead to success in their ventures,” said Konfio founder and CEO David Arana. “We are excited to launch this initiative with a company like Facebook, with whom we share the objective of promoting small and medium enterprises in Mexico.”

Arana explained the agenda of each event will adhere to the unique needs and characteristics of each region in which it is held, although the broad focus of the initiative will be to promote financial inclusion and strategic technological adoption among small businesses.

He added that Konfio’s own research found that small businesses find access to financing is among their largest obstacles to growth in Mexico.

“We are committed to the development of digital skills in people, especially in entrepreneurs, since we believe they have the potential to help local businesses grow,” added Facebook’s Mexico country manager Xóchitl Balzola-Widmann. “We are happy to collaborate with a key ally of [SMBs] in the country, such as Konfio, to help this segment [that is] so important for the economy.”