Lendela strengthens Singapore leadership with the appointments of James Lam as Country Manager and Imran Johri as Head of Marketing

Dual senior hires to accelerate growth and executional scale as Lendela doubles down on Singapore ahead of 2026.

Singapore, 22 December, 2025 — Lendela, Asia Pacific’s leading loan matching platform, today announced two senior leadership appointments in Singapore: James Lam as Country Manager and Imran Johri as Head of Marketing.

The appointments mark a strategic milestone in Lendela’s continued push to be mission-driven and purposeful in making financial services more equitable and fair for everyone, while sharpening the company’s competitive edge with two heavyweight operators who have an impressing history of scaling complex, high-velocity businesses in the market.

Singapore remains one of the region’s most competitive and sophisticated borrowing markets. Lendela’s strengthened leadership bench underscores a clear intent: scale brand, scale execution, and scale impact - with a tighter, faster, more disciplined growth engine heading into 2026.

Leading the next phase of growth in Singapore

James will lead Lendela’s Singapore business, owning market development, commercial performance, and operational execution, while partnering closely with the regional leadership team to drive sustainable growth and deepen value for borrowers and lending partners.

He brings 15+ years of experience scaling high-growth platforms in Singapore across sales, operations, and P&L leadership. Most recently, as Sales Director at Carro, he led Singapore’s commercial operations and marketplace sales organisation, dominating national market share. Prior to that, across both Grab and Unicorn Limo, he held P&L accountability and built driver acquisition engines generating rapid growth.

“Lendela sits at the intersection of two things Singapore cares deeply about: trust and outcomes,” said James Lam, Country Manager, Singapore at Lendela. “My focus is building a repeatable operating system with tight funnels, stronger partner execution, and a customer experience that feels clear and fair end-to-end.”

“With James, we’re bringing on a proven strategist and operator who knows how to build commercial engines and lead high-performance teams in Singapore,” said Nima Karimi, Founder & CEO of Lendela. “He combines sharp commercial instincts with hands-on operating rigour. Exactly what we need heading into 2026.”

Building a stronger marketing engine

Imran will lead Lendela’s marketing strategy in Singapore across branding, acquisition, retention, and full-funnel growth, identifying new growth opportunities and fine tuning existing marketing operations.

“Singapore is a sophisticated market where users don’t just want rates, they want clarity, credibility, and confidence,” said Nima Karimi, Founder & CEO at Lendela. “Imran is a rare blend of brand builder and operator who knows how to deliver results without compromising trust.”

Imran’s appointment comes as Lendela continues to strengthen its overall marketing capabilities in Singapore — scaling brand presence, sharpening communications, and enhancing how we engage customers across key touchpoints to support sustainable growth.

“Lendela is solving a real problem in a category that has traditionally been opaque and exhausting,” said Imran Johri, Head of Marketing, Singapore at Lendela. “What excites me is the opportunity to continue to build a brand that shows up with clear narratives and credible proof points. In a market like Singapore, trust is the ultimate conversion lever.”

For media enquiries:

Axel Frändén
Deputy CEO
[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 and Hong Kong.