Mexico-based first omnichannel buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform Aplazo has raised $27m in a Series A funding round, following its $5.25m seed financing round four months ago.
The round was led by Oak HC/FT and joined by the company’s existing investors such as Kaszek and Picus Capital.
Aplazo plans to use the new capital to accelerate its growth with increased investment in resources across product, sales, engineering, and merchant success.
The firm is said to have grown its total processing volume more than eightfold since its seed funding.
It is now aiming to propel its expansion to other Latin American countries next year.
Aplazo founder and CEO Angel Peña said: “At Aplazo, we’re combatting unequal access to credit by providing consumers with access to an alternative form of credit that helps them to extend their purchasing power in a financially responsible, low-risk way.
Aplazo allows customers to pay for their online and offline purchases over time in equal instalments without needing a credit card.
Aplazo estimates consumers’ creditworthiness and level of affordability using alternative data, including open banking and telecom data, and optimises approval rates.
Aplazo co-founder Alex Wieland noted: “By providing our partner merchants with access to new customer segments that are credit-worthy, Aplazo is already an indispensable payment method, taking up to 60% of the share of their transactional volume and increasing conversion and repeat purchases.”
Oak HC/FT principal Allen Miller said: “Aplazo’s solution caters to this influential segment of consumers, creating a new payment network that is especially valuable to the Mexican economy where credit is so challenging to access. We look forward to our partnership with Aplazo as they bring their platform to the markets that need it most.”
In August this year, Mexican B2B software and payments firm Yaydoo reportedly raised $20.4m in a Series A funding round to grow its team and accelerate its product development.
Last year, B2B payments platform TransferMate received a payments licence from National Banking and Securities Commission in Mexico to operate as a money transmitter in the country.
