Lendela, Asia Pacific’s dominant loan matching platform, today announced a key leadership transition as former Chief Marketing Officer, Axel Frändén, assumes the role of Deputy CEO while retaining oversight of the company’s marketing function.

The strategic transition strengthens Lendela’s leadership as it accelerates its journey of growth and customer-centric innovation in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia.

As Deputy CEO, Axel brings over a decade of multinational expertise in marketing, brand direction, and business growth to Lendela’s executive leadership, integrating what was already a pivotal role within the company with its long-term strategic planning, operational decision-making, and organisational goals.

In his expanded role, Axel will work closely with CEO Nima Karimi and the senior leadership across all functions to enhance operational excellence, identify new opportunities for growth, and scale the business across the region.

“I am incredibly excited about this new chapter for both Axel and the company,” said Nima Karimi, CEO of Lendela.

“Axel has been an integral part of Lendela’s success over the last five years, and his leadership on marketing, brand, and growth has been instrumental in positioning us as a leader in APAC’s lendtech space.”

His new role will allow us to harness this very strategic vision and expertise more broadly across the business as we continue to scale in APAC.”

Axel’s appointment comes at a critical time for Lendela, as the company continues to expand its presence in key markets.

With close to 400,000 consumers served and growing partnerships with more than 100 lending partners, the transition represents a significant step in accelerating Lendela’s mission of simplifying borrowing and levelling the playing field in lending with its unique reverse auction model.

“As we look to the future, I’m excited to take on this new responsibility while continuing to oversee the growth strategy that has been a key part of Lendela’s success,” said Axel Frändén.

“Lendela’s success over the years has been the epitome of teamwork making the dream work, and I look forward to working closely with every function to identify new opportunities as part of our ambitious growth plan while continuing to deliver value to our customers and partners.”

Since the start of 2024, the company has grown its headcount by over 20 percent, with a series of hires across all levels in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia.

In Singapore, Lendela recently expanded its partner network to nearly 60 lenders, including some of the largest banks in the country and now forming the largest lender panel in Singapore.

In Australia, the company is on an aggressive growth trajectory, having grown its lender panel six-fold in a little over a year while paving the way for borrower data security and accuracy with a recent industry-first integration with digital identity solution ConnectID.