Colendi
Colendi is a banking-as-a-service platform that uses AI and big data to provide financial services to underserved populations. The company has raised $286M, including a Series B in May 2024, and employs 70 people.
The growth story
Colendi grew from 18 to 70 employees between 2019 and 2026, raising $286M along the way, most recently a Series B in May 2024.
About
Colendi builds a platform that offers banking services to consumers, merchants, and financial institutions, focusing on those without access to traditional banking. Its technology uses scoring algorithms to assess creditworthiness and provide loans.
The company has raised significant funding, with $286M in total, including a recent Series B round. While its current headcount is 70, the company's focus on underserved markets positions it for potential growth in the financial services sector.
Founders and leadership
Engineering is the largest function at Colendi, with 8 employees. The company is led by a team that includes investors and strategic partners, reflecting its focus on scaling banking services globally.
The Colendi org chart
Bulent Tekmen (Co-Founder) leads 15 mapped leaders with 4 direct reports. Click +N to expand a team; names link to the person’s public profile.
Departments, and which ones grew
Headcount by function: Engineering 14 (-36% YoY), Business Development 8 (0% YoY), Product Management 7 (+17% YoY), Entrepreneurship 7 (0% YoY), Information Technology 6 (-14% YoY), Finance 5 (0% YoY).
Talent flow
Colendi's team comes from diverse financial and tech backgrounds, including ininal, Huawei, and Akbank. Alumni often move to fintech startups like Nakitera and Noktune, indicating a strong fintech network.
Most common previous employers of Colendi staff: ininal (3), Huawei (2), EasyCep (2), CovenLabs (2), Akbank (2), Multinet | UP (2). Former Colendi employees most often moved to Nakitera (7), Noktune (3), ColendiBank (3), Garanti BBVA Teknoloji (2), DringAI (2), Juuli (2).
Alumni worth knowing
The Colendi mafia
Colendi alumni have founded several startups, including DringAI, Juuli, and Luvu, with DringAI being the largest with 9 staff. This shows a trend of entrepreneurial activity among former employees.
9Ayberk ., was Product Manager until 2024Arda Cezzar, was Senior Product Manager - Credits and Payments - Business Development until 2024Serkan Kocaman, was Product Marketing Manager until 2018Murat Çelik Cansoy, was Chief Product Officer until 2023Zeki Berke Güncan, was Strategy until 2024Erel Papo, was Data Scientist until 2023
Hurkan Suren, was Ecosystem & Platform Growth - Business Development Specialist until 2023
Mehmet Sedat Güngör, was Backend Team Lead until 2026Web traffic
Traffic mix: 26% direct, 11% search, 56% social, 1% paid.
What this company is made of
Most common skills at Colendi: JavaScript (17), SQL (15), Management (15), English (15), Strategy (14), Project Management (14), Software Development (14), C# (13).
Where the team actually sits
Colendi people are concentrated in Istanbul, Türkiye (31), Türkiye (8), Ankara, Türkiye (1), Bursa, Türkiye (1).
Search footprint
Colendi attracts about 879,000 organic search visits a month, traffic worth roughly $1M a month if bought through ads. It gained 123,388 ranking keywords and lost 87,723 in the last period.
Frequently asked
Colendi has 70 employees as of September 2026.
Colendi has raised $286M in total, most recently a Series B round in May 2024.
Colendi was founded in 2018 by Bulent Tekmen, Mihriban Ersin, Mihriban Ersin Tekmen.
Bulent Tekmen (Co-Founder) sits at the top of Colendi's reporting structure, with 4 direct reports.
The most common previous employers of current Colendi staff are ininal (3 people), Huawei (2 people), EasyCep (2 people).
Former Colendi employees most often move to Nakitera (7), Noktune (3), ColendiBank (3).
At least 8 companies have a founder who previously worked at Colendi, including DringAI, Juuli, Luvu.
Colendi attracts about 879,000 organic search visits a month, worth roughly $1M a month in equivalent ad spend.
The most common skills among Colendi staff are JavaScript, SQL, Management, English, Strategy.
Colendi staff are concentrated in Istanbul, Türkiye (31), Türkiye (8), Ankara, Türkiye (1).
Colendi has about 14 people in Engineering, down 36% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Colendi has about 8 people in Business Development, up 0% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Computed from 43 current and 146 former Colendi profiles, as of September 2026. Source: Crustdata.
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