Why Prestamype Failed: Unit Economics | Startup Autopsy
€3M
Raised
6y
Time to collapse
// startup autopsy
Prestamype
Peruvian P2P lending platform connecting SMEs with retail investors shut down in 2022 as rising interest rates and post-COVID default rates destroyed the unit economics of unsecured SME lending.
Evaluating only Prestamype’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Unit economics as the #1 likely cause. That’s exactly how it died.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
Prestamype founded
DOWN ROUND
Down round or bridge financing
SHUTDOWN
Silent Shutdown: Prestamype ceases operations
Full Analysis
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Documented cause
Prestamype was founded in Lima in 2016 to match small businesses seeking working capital with retail investors seeking higher-yield alternatives to bank deposits. The platform raised approximately $3M and built a loanbook of Peruvian sole proprietorships and micro-enterprises. The COVID shock of 2020 triggered a wave of SME defaults that the platform's loss provisions could not absorb. By 2021-2022, the combination of rising Banco Central de Reserva del Perú benchmark rates, a deteriorating SME credit environment, and retail investor withdrawals made the P2P model unworkable. Prestamype ceased new loan originations in 2022 and wound down.
Lesson
“P2P lending platforms must stress-test their loanbook at 30% default rate and verify that retail lender capital can be returned. If the answer is "no" at 30% defaults, the platform is offering retail lenders an unsecured bond with illiquidity, not an investment product.”