Loan-matching fintech Lendela recognised among Singapore's Best Startup Employers 2026 by Tech in Asia

Asia Pacific's dominant loan matching platform earns a place in Tech in Asia's first-ever Singapore's Best Startup Employers list, ranking in the Finance, Banking & FinTech category alongside three fellow Cocoon Capital portfolio companies.

Singapore, 27 August 2026 — Lendela, Asia Pacific's dominant loan matching platform, has been named to Tech in Asia's inaugural Singapore's Best Startup Employers 2026 list, placing No. 184 in the Finance, Banking & FinTech category. Produced by Tech in Asia in collaboration with Statista, the list was published at techinasia.com on 27 July 2026 — and evaluated more than 8,500 Singapore-headquartered companies before narrowing the field to the 200 recognised.

To qualify, companies had to be headquartered in Singapore, founded within the last 15 years, employ more than 10 people, operate independently with their own website, and offer an innovative product or business model.

Good company

Lendela is one of four Cocoon Capital portfolio companies to make this year's list — alongside Augmentus Robotics (No. 3, AI-based Enterprise Software & Services), SensorFlow (No. 171, Clean Tech & Renewables), and Qashier (No. 189, Finance, Banking & FinTech). Cocoon Capital, the Singapore-based venture capital firm and one of Lendela's earliest backers, has supported all four companies since their early stages.

"Building a company people want to work for takes more than perks and culture statements," said Imran Johri, Head of Marketing at Lendela. "It's the everyday work of creating trust, giving people room to do good work, and building something worth showing up for. This recognition belongs to the team that shows up for it, every day."

Not a victory lap

For Lendela, the recognition lands as validation rather than an endpoint. The company has spent the past year expanding its executive leadership and scaling its reverse auction model — which allows financial institutions to bid for borrowers with their most competitive financing offers — across Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. That growth, the company says, only holds up if the team behind it believes in what they're building.

A loan matching platform works only when the people running it understand the difference between a comparison that serves borrowers and one that serves margins. Tech in Asia's list is an external signal that the culture built around that distinction is landing with the people living it day to day.

For media enquiries:

Imran Johri
Head of Marketing, Singapore
[email protected]

About Lendela
Founded in 2018, Lendela is a fast-growing fintech on a mission to simplify financing and enable greater financial access. The platform matches borrowers with personalised loan options through a simple application, empowering borrowers with choice and transparency while offering an alternative to the cumbersome and opaque traditional lending landscape. Since its inception, Lendela has facilitated over 400,000 loan applications alongside more than 100 lending partners. In 2023, Lendela successfully raised US$5 million in an oversubscribed Series A to scale its unique model across Asia Pacific. The company's backers include Singlife co-founder Walter de Oude's Chocolate Ventures as well as prominent Singapore-based VC firm Cocoon Capital. Lendela currently serves customers in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia.