The Venture Codex

Participated · Debt Financing · May 2023

Kapital is a technology-first bank that builds financial infrastructure and products natively in-house for SMBs, integrating AML/KYC, machine learning, and AI-driven risk systems. The company offers loans, payments, and operational support while acquiring and modernizing traditional financial institutions by replacing legacy infrastructure with its own technology. Kapital reports higher profit margins, longer customer relationships and lower loss ratios compared with fintechs that lack a banking licence or proprietary software. The business is profitable and has doubled its valuation to $1.3 billion in under two years. Kapital’s balance sheet has expanded to $3 billion and it serves more than 300,000 businesses across the United States, Mexico and Colombia. The new funding will be used to scale its AI-powered financial ecosystem and support further expansion across Latin America. Kapital provides small and medium-sized businesses in Latin America with banking and technology products that surface real-time financial visibility and cash-flow management using data and artificial intelligence. The platform also applies AI to underwrite small business loans and enable embedded finance and payments integration. The company intends to deploy new funding into R&D and technology development, bolster its cross-border offering, grow its product suite, and accelerate predictive analytics to help customers improve margins. Kapital has operations across Mexico, Colombia and Peru and acquired Banco Autofin Mexico S.A. in September to expand its customer base. The company reported growth to 80,000 small-business customers (plus Banco Autofin’s 65,000 customers), is profitable, and grew revenue 6x in the past year. leadership says the combination of a bank and platform lets Kapital create embedded finance options and move money faster across the region. Kapital is a Mexican fintech founded in 2020 by Rene Saul and Fernando Sandoval that builds a financial operations platform for small and medium-sized businesses across Latin America. Its product combines an enterprise-style reporting dashboard with financial services: customers can get corporate credit cards, pay bills in advance, view cash flow, and manage business spending. The company developed an algorithm to forecast future revenue and to trigger lending at the precise moment a customer needs credit. Kapital launched Kapital Flex to defer supplier and invoice payments, expanded into Colombia, and recently automated its platform so actions like contract execution automatically generate invoices. It is working with over 11,000 businesses, is planning further AI-driven products, and the CEO said he expected the company to be profitable by this summer. New capital is intended to fund product development and additional expansion in Colombia.

Led · Debt Financing · Mar 2023

Founded in 2021 by Gerry Giacomán and Diego García, Clara offers a unified platform that combines corporate cards, real-time expense administration, and financial visibility tools to streamline complex payment workflows for companies. The service, driven by artificial intelligence, automates expense processes and gives finance teams greater control and efficiency. Since launch the company has onboarded more than 30,000 enterprise customers throughout Latin America, including the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, Holcim, OCESA, Viva Aerobus and Miniso. Recent product road-maps highlight specialized solutions for travel and mobility sectors, areas that are highly payment-intensive. To accelerate this expansion Clara appointed veteran payments executive Jorge de Lara as president for Mexico, tasking him with deepening corporate alliances and scaling the business locally. Backed by over US$150 million of fresh capital secured in the past year, the company is using its strengthened balance sheet to widen its customer base and roll out new features. Management views the continued investor support as validation of Clara’s model focused on digitizing enterprise spend management in the region.

Participated · Debt Financing · Feb 2023

Minu provides a gamified, rewards-driven employee wellness platform that began as an earned wage access product and has expanded to more than 30 benefits covering financial, physical and mental health. The company now operates a SaaS subscription model—paid for by employers—that generates roughly half of its revenue and makes services free for employees. Minu reports over 300 enterprise customers (including Grupo Modelo, Coppel and Cinemex) and says revenue grew more than fivefold between 2021 and 2022. It has added a credit union-as-a-service enabling employer-offered savings (starting at 8%) and low-cost loans, plus telemedicine, bill payment and virtual fitness offerings. Employees earn rewards for completing financial education and wellness content, which can increase savings rates and insurance benefits. Minu says the new capital gives it a runway of 22 months and it will continue product development and geographic expansion within Mexico. Minu provides employees with instant, 24/7 access to earned wages via a B2B payroll-integrated app, charging a $2 fixed withdrawal fee. The company integrates with employer payroll so funds are advanced and then deducted from upcoming paychecks, reducing friction for HR teams. Minu serves more than 100 large enterprise and public-sector clients, including TotalPlay, Telefonica, Scotiabank, OfficeMax, Rappi, Adecco, Manpower, Cap Gemini and the Electoral Institute of the State of Mexico. Its transaction volume and revenue grew 18x in 2020 from a small base, though the company declined to disclose hard revenue figures. Co-founders Nima Pourshasb, Rafa Niell and Paolo Rizzi lead a team of about 60 employees. Minu plans to use new capital to grow headcount, expand beyond Mexico and launch complementary products such as financial education, savings, smart-spend tools and insurance.

Participated · Series A · Feb 2022

Volopay provides virtual and physical prepaid multicurrency corporate cards, multicurrency wallets supporting 65+ currencies across 100+ countries, low‑cost domestic and international transfers, and expense management software to track and control spending in real time. The platform offers up to 5% cash back on card transactions and emphasizes low foreign‑exchange charges for international payments. Volopay plans to build new technologies that complement its product and enhance integrations with ERP, HRM and CRM systems, and will hire aggressively as it expands into APAC and MENA markets. The company positions itself as an alternative to traditional banks by owning regional infrastructure to deliver a consistent global experience. Since its 2019 founding the startup has grown its team from ~20 to over 150 employees and amassed 700+ customers including Funding Societies, Zipmex, Moneysmart, Smartkarma and Austrionova. Management reports strong traction: total payment value increased 98% monthly and revenue rose 41% since its seed round. Volopay provides a platform that combines multicurrency Visa Corporate cards, domestic and international bank transfers, automated bill pay, expense management and accounting integrations to help companies reconcile spending and save on FX fees. The company issues corporate cards with up to 2% cash back on software subscriptions, hosting and international travel and offers a credit facility with an average credit line of about $30,000. Volopay launched in 2019 and was founded by Rajith Shaiji and Rajesh Raikwar; it took part in Y Combinator's accelerator program. It serves roughly 100 clients, including InVideo, Dathena, Medline, Sensorflow and Beam, with most customers in tech and typically 15–150 employees. The business has seen rapid transaction growth, reporting about 70% month-on-month growth in total funds flowing through its platform, and new features such as bill pay now contribute roughly 40% of payment volume while the credit product accounts for about 30% of card spending. Volopay is using its recent funding to hire, build product and strategic partnerships, and to expand internationally (it plans to launch operations in Australia later this month).

Participated · Equity · May 2021

a55 is a revenue-based financing platform that upfronts predictable sales for data-driven businesses and offers investors exposure to a recurring-revenue, fixed-income-like asset class. The company was founded in 2018 and operates in Brazil and Mexico through an open-finance platform that connects banking, payments and online-performance data. To date a55 has provided more than R$300 million in loans to over 500 companies. With the new funding the company plans to advance its technology, recruit talent, and accelerate expansion in Brazil and Mexico. a55 intends to grow its client portfolio beyond online subscriptions and e-commerce, enhance its open-finance platform, and develop new data-science and blockchain-based capabilities. Management frames the product as a way to give new-economy businesses easier access to credit while offering investors a secured, transparent asset class backed by predictable sales. a55 is a Brazilian fintech that provides credit to technology companies with recurring revenue through a data-driven lending platform. Its product suite includes a credit monitoring platform for borrowers, revenue insights and cost metrics, integrated cash-flow agreement management, deposit and revenue-splitting tools, and a real-time portfolio management and monitoring platform for investors fed by transactional data. Management says it uses digital, transactional and revenue data to drive credit decisions and build the platform of the future. In 2020 a55 grew about 500% and projected 600% growth in 2021; it aims to surpass R$1 billion of credit in Brazil and US$100 million in Mexico by 2022. The company plans to use new capital to finance credit operations across the region—with a focus on Mexico—and to expand commercially and in product offerings. a55 positions itself as an enabler for Latin American tech-enabled SMEs and highlights resilient credit performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. a55 provides alternative credit and liquidity solutions to small and medium enterprises by using companies' recurring revenues as collateral and a tech platform that connects bank accounts, custody, billing, payment methods and credit intelligence. Founded in Brazil in 2018 by André Wetter and Hugo Mathecowitsch, the company is positioning itself as a financing platform for businesses that serve other businesses, starting with SaaS providers, and has recently expanded into Mexico. The firm employs 45 professionals across São Paulo, Florianópolis and Mexico City. Since 2018 a55 has lent to 50 companies in 350 operations, disbursing roughly 100 million reais in Brazil and 150 million pesos in Mexico, with overdue payments below 4%. The company expects to double those disbursement figures in the next 12 months. Its product suite includes a credit dashboard, revenue and expense metrics, cash-flow management and deposit‑locking tools, and a real-time portfolio-management platform for lenders built on transaction data.