CORRECTED-SoftBank-backed Creditas reaches $1.75 bln valuation in new funding round

(Corrects nine-months revenue to 232.1 mln reais, not 78.8 million reais, in paragraph 8)

By Carolina Mandl

SAO PAULO, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Brazil's Creditas said on Friday it has raised $255 million to finance international expansion and boost loan book growth in the lending platform's fifth funding round, valuing it at $1.75 billion.

The new round, led by impact investor LGT Lightstone almost doubling its price tag around a year earlier, chief executive Sergio Furio told Reuters.

Tarsadia Capital, Wellington Management, e.ventures and Sunley House Capital, an affiliate of Advent International, also invested, as well existing investors SoftBank, Kaszek and Amadeus Capital Partners and VEF, Creditas said.

Founded in 2012 by Furio, a Spanish former consultant, Creditas has specialized in loans secured by assets like homes, autos and salaries, credit lines Brazil's biggest lenders shun.

Creditas plans to use the proceeds to fund its newly-launched subsidiary in Mexico, which started extending loans in July, Furio said, adding the fintech firm also intends to launch new products and services, without providing details.

New technology hirings are also on the horizon for Creditas.

Furio said the proceeds will allow Creditas to double its loan book to more than 2 billion reais ($389 million) in the next 12 months.

It ended September with 1.04 billion reais in loans and revenues totaled 232.1 million reais in the first nine months of 2020.

When the pandemic struck Brazil in March, Creditas decided to slow down new loans, as it feared a spike in delinquencies and a lack of funding, Furio said. In July, however, it resumed disbursements, as defaults were under control, he added. ($1 = 5.1396 reais) (Reporting by Carolina Mandl; Editing by Alexander Smith)