Top Latin American FinTech startups worth keeping an eye on

By Pavithra R

In Latin America, a huge percentage of its population is still underbanked. However, with more and more FinTech companies emerging, the region is seeing an increasing drive towards digital transformation.

According to Latam FinTech Hub, the LATAM FinTech market has raised a total of US$ 525M (US$ 249,3M in equity and US$ 275,7M in debt) in 74 deals in 2020 H1. FinTech’s funding in Latin America is highly concentrated in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia accounting for over 98% by 2020 H1. Here is a list of top FinTech startups in Latin America worth keeping an eye on:

Konfio (2013)

HQ: Mexico

Capital raised: $402.8 Million

Mexican FinTech startup Konfío is an online lending platform committed to being a growth ally for small and medium-sized companies. The company offers agile credit and tools that will boost its growth. It develops rapid processes that allow them to access credit for working capital, to meet the immediate requirements of the business.

dlocal (2016)

HQ: Uruguay

Capital raised: 7 million

dlocal is a 360 payments technology platform designed to handle mass online payments in emerging markets. It helps in eliminating cross-border payment complexities and minimizing operational costs. Its solution is helping global companies to offer their customers a simple solution for making online transactions easy, and for paying local sellers and partners by depositing the funds in the local currency, directly to their local account.

Over 450 global e-commerce companies, including Uber, Sony, GoDaddy, Constant Contact, and Avast, rely on dLocal to accept 300+ locally-relevant payment methods online, as well as issue mass payouts to their contractors, agents, and sellers in emerging markets around the world. Recently, the firm launched Merchant Dashboard to help clients optimize business outcomes.

Ualá (2017)

HQ: Argentina

Capital Raised: $194 million

Ualá is a FinTech that is revolutionizing personal finance in Argentina. Through a mobile application linked to a prepaid card, users can carry out a wide variety of financial transactions, including transferring money, paying bills, loading balance on prepaid cell phones, and SUBE transport cards, among others. The app also allows users to track expenses through an analysis tool.  It operates with a Mastercard prepaid card and charges no issuance, renewal, maintenance, and closing costs.

Nubank (2013)

HQ: Brazil

Capital Raised: $1.1 Billion

Nubank is the leading independent digital bank in Latin America developing simple, secure, and 100% digital solutions for customer’s financial life. The FinTech launched its first product in 2014, a credit card with no annual fee managed entirely by a mobile application. In 2017, Nubank launched its proprietary loyalty rewards program (Nubank Rewards), as well as a digital account (NuConta) that is already used by more than 17 million people. In 2019, the company began testing its personal loan product and took its first steps in international expansion, opening offices in Mexico and Argentina.

Global66 (2017)

HQ: Chile

Capital Raised: $3.3 Million

Global66 is a technology company enabling fast, transparent money transfers, remittances, and international money transfers with up to 8 times cheaper than the competition. The FinTech achieves this by eliminating unnecessary fixed costs and hidden costs and by maximizing the efficiency of operational processes.

Omnibnk (2018)

HQ: Colombia

Capital Raised: $201.6 Million

Omnibnk is a FinTech that offers 100% digital financial solutions for Latin American companies, facilitating access to financing without moving and with approval in less than an hour. The firm was founded in Chile and was launched in Colombia through the acquisition of local factoring provider, Capital Logistic. The FinTech uses Big Data and Machine Learning to analyze electronic invoices to provide SMEs with faster, fairer, and more accurate factoring services.