Mexico-based Commerce and BNPL Fintech Platform Aplazo Secures $70 Million in Equity Funding
13 Mayo 2024 - 11:00AM
Business Wire
Aplazo, an omni-channel payment platform that offers flexible
payment solutions and commerce enablement tools to help merchants
accelerate sales and grow their brands, announced today the closing
of $70 million of additional equity financing, including a $45
million Series B.
QED Investors led the equity financing, which also included
participation from new investor Volpe Capital as well as existing
investors Oak HC/FT, Kaszek and Picus Capital. Aplazo has now
secured more than $100 million in equity financing and $75 million
in committed debt funding since launching in late 2020.
The financing round comes on the back of a threefold growth in
revenue from rapidly expanding market share among online and
offline merchants, as well as strong financial performance,
operating near breakeven in the last couple of months. The company
will deploy the additional capital to continue shaping Aplazo’s
best-in-class product offering for consumers and merchants alike
and double down on product innovation including using AI
capabilities to better understand consumer and merchant needs and
to enhance risk decisions.
Angel Peña, CEO and co-founder of Aplazo, said: “Aplazo set out
to become the preferred payment method in Mexico through fair,
simple and transparent financial solutions, rather than traditional
credit products that lure users into a debt trap. This behavior has
been common practice in Mexico over the past decades, and we put
the consumer at the core of our fair payment solutions offering.
With this investment we look to further advance on our mission and
are tremendously excited to welcome QED as one of the leading
global consumer fintech investors as a partner on this
journey.”
Aplazo has positioned itself as the category leader in the BNPL
space by tackling the massive offline retail market, which
represents around 93 percent of total retail sales in Mexico.
Presently, in-store transactions account for roughly more than half
of Aplazo’s business and have been a meaningful driver of retention
and loyalty.
In many cases, Aplazo is the first and only credit source,
noting that 70 percent of its users don't have another credit
product registered on bureau records. This has been coupled with
the firm’s ability to deliver low-single-digit credit loss rates,
ranking among the lowest in the country.
Today, 40 percent of Aplazo’s users have no credit history, yet
the company maintains a credit approval rate of over 80 percent.
Peña emphasized that these achievements underscore Aplazo's product
significance and the team’s capacity to establish a sustainable
business model while providing value to both consumers and
merchants.
Aplazo stands out from any other BNPL provider as the only
player to truly give infinite possibilities of where a user can
“buy now and pay later.” Besides having the largest network of
merchants in Mexico, both online and offline, Aplazo offers a
single-use virtual card that allows users to buy in installments
anywhere they want.
“We’ve identified clear gaps in the market when we look at
offering consumers better payment and financing products,” added
Peña. “We see an opportunity to provide deeper engagement with our
customers as they start to transact more frequently with us. Our
ability to offer ubiquitous BNPL services allows 88 percent of the
Mexicans that don’t have credit cards to make every-day purchases
and pay them later in installments in a simple to understand way,
which resonates well with the underserved Mexican population.”
Aplazo’s success has also been attributed to its focus to
deliver an exceptional experience to brands. “We act as a growth
lever to our partner merchants to drive new customers and
incremental sales online and in-store,” said Aplazo’s chief revenue
officer and co-founder Alex Wieland. “After working with Aplazo,
our partners have seen on average 60 percent higher average order
value and 30 percent higher conversion. Additionally, all Aplazo
merchants have access to a marketing tech stack and AI tools that
are designed to understand unique customer insights to better run
their business.”
QED Investors partner and head of LatAm Mike Packer added: “We
are incredibly excited to partner with Aplazo on the journey to
become the preferred payment solution in Mexico. The company has
made great progress in recent years, including delivering
sustainable unit economics with a laser focus on the customer
experience. Angel and Alex have surrounded themselves with a
world-class team that we believe is just scratching the surface on
the consumer and merchant payments opportunity in Mexico.”
Volpe Capital partner Andre Maciel said: “We are extremely
excited to partner with Aplazo as the largest BNPL provider in
Mexico. Aplazo's growth profile and unit economics not only make
the company stand out among all other peers we have seen in the
region but also comfortably position the company for self-funded
growth going forward.”
About QED Investors:
QED Investors is a global leading venture capital firm based in
Alexandria, Va. Founded by Nigel Morris and Frank Rotman in 2007,
QED Investors is focused on investing in disruptive financial
services companies worldwide. QED Investors is dedicated to
building great businesses and uses a unique, hands-on approach that
leverages its partners’ decades of entrepreneurial and operational
experience, helping companies achieve breakthrough growth. Notable
investments include AvidXchange, Betterfly, Bitso, Caribou,
ClearScore, Current, Creditas, Credit Karma, Flywire, Kavak,
Klarna, Konfio, Loft, Mission Lane, Nubank, QuintoAndar, Remitly,
SoFi, Wagestream and Wayflyer.
About Volpe Capital:
Founded in 2021, Volpe Capital seeks to obtain long-term capital
appreciation by investing in tech and tech-enabled high growth
opportunities in Latin America. Its partners bring experience from
global growth investors and investment banking, such as Warburg
Pincus, SoftBank and J.P. Morgan. Among its investments are Caju,
CRM&Bonus, Connectly, Uol Edtech, Atlas, Seedz and Welbe.
About Aplazo:
Aplazo is a modern payment network that offers payment solutions
and merchant tools to help merchants sell more and grow their
brands. With Aplazo, merchants can offer installment payment plans
to 88 percent of the Mexican population who don’t have access to
credit cards and can’t pay in installments and instant payments
that result in more than 60 percent of savings in processing fees
to merchants. Aplazo merchants have access to a marketing tech
stack and AI tools that are designed to eliminate many of the
drop-off points in commerce to better run their business.
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Jessica Hoyos jessica@aplazo.mx