Ecuador’s Kushki raised a $86m round in what it claimed was the highest valuation Series B in LatAm, valuing the 4-year company at approximately $600m.
The round included investors such as SoftBank Latin America Fund and an undisclosed global growth equity firm. In addition, previous investors such as DILA Capital, KASZEK, Clocktower Ventures, and Magma Partners.
With operations already in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile, the firm aims to fuel aggressive team expansion throughout Latin America. This will include over 200 job openings for software engineering roles. Kushki will also focus on growing into new markets including Brazil and Central America and consolidating its enterprise capabilities.
Kushki is a platform for credit and debit cards in Latin America, bank transfers, digital cash, mobile wallets, and alternative payment methods. It was founded by Ecuadorian serial entrepreneurs Sebastián Castro and Aron Schwarzkopf in 2017. The company experienced exponential growth, tripling the size of its team in 2021, it said.
According to Schwarzkopf, FinTech’s Visio provides a standardized and regionalized infrastructure. This is so that Latin America’s digital development can be built on top of it for decades to come.
He added, “Utilising payments throughout the region has typically been a fragmented and primitive process because of the lack of investment in banking infrastructure. With this new funding, we’ll be able to accelerate the power of the Kushki infrastructure throughout Latam, democratizing the movement of money for both businesses and consumers.”
Echoing a similar sentiment, SoftBank Group International partner Carlos Medeiros said, “Kushki’s long-term vision and advanced technology infrastructure are well aligned with SoftBank’s vision of digital transformation in Latin America. We are impressed by the company’s rapid developments and recent accomplishments, including the unprecedented number of large enterprises across the region leveraging its infrastructure.”
Products similar to Kushki have been successful in other regions worldwide, such as India with Pine Labs, and Africa with Flutterwave and Checkout.com.
Kushki raised a $86 million round in what it claimed was the highest valuation Series B in Latin America, valuing the four-year-old company nearly $600 million.
Investors in the round were SoftBank Latin America Fund, an undisclosed global growth equity firm, and several undisclosed previous investors.
After launching in Latin America, the company plans to expand its operations into Europe, Canada, and North America. The firm plans to create over 200 job opportunities for software engineers.
Kushki is planning to expand into new markets, including Brazil and Central America, and to strengthen enterprise capabilities.
Founded in 2017, Kushki helps consumers and businesses in Latin America use alternative payment methods. Our goal is to make payments in Latin America as seamless and easy as in North America.
The company experienced exponential growth, tripling the size of its team in 2021, it said.
Fintech stands for Financial Technology. They want to make sure that the financial system is open, standardised, and regionalised for years to come so that Latin America‘s digital economy can be installed on top of it for decades to come.
The author added, “Although it is true that the payment systems currently in place are limited and rudimentary, what we’re aiming to do is move towards a world where every merchant has a mobile device, and each consumer has access to a bank account and the capability to make purchases on a mobile device.
This new funding will help us to accelerate the power of the Kushki infrastructure throughout Latin America, democratizing the movement of money for both businesses and consumers.
SoftBank Group International partner Carlos Medeiros said that he was impressed by Kushkis long-term vision and its advanced technology infrastructure, and how it matched the SoftBank Group’s vision of digital transformation in Latin America.
We’re impressed by Kushki’s rapid development and recent achievements. Kushki has made a number of high-profile partnerships including with Facebook, Google, and Amazon. These alliances are expected to contribute to Kushki’s future success and growth.