MEXICO CITY, May 13, 2024–(COMMERCIAL WIRE)–Aplazo, a multi-channel payment platform offering flexible payment solutions and commerce enablement tools to help merchants accelerate sales and grow their brands, today announced the closing of an additional $70 million in equity financing dollars, including a $45 million Series B financing.

QED Investors led the equity financing, which also included participation from new investor Volpe Capital and 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 financing since its launch in late 2020.

The funding round comes on the heels of triple revenue growth resulting from rapidly expanding market share across online and offline merchants, as well as strong financial performance, operating at near break-even for the past two months. The company will employ the additional capital to continue shaping Aplazo’s best-in-class product offerings for both consumers and merchants and will double down on product innovation, including using artificial intelligence capabilities to understand better meet the needs of consumers and traders and to improve risk decisions.

Angel Peña, CEO and co-founder of Aplazo, said: “Aplazo aims 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 money trap. debt. This behavior has been a common practice in Mexico over the past decades and we put the consumer at the center of our offering of fair payment solutions. With this investment we seek to further advance our mission and we are extremely excited to welcome QED as one of the leading global consumers fintech investors as partners on this journey.”

Aplazo has positioned itself as a category leader in the BNPL space by addressing the massive offline retail market, which represents approximately 93% of total retail sales in Mexico. Currently, in-store transactions account for approximately more than half of Aplazo’s business and have been a significant driver of retention and loyalty.

In many cases, Aplazo is the first and only source of credit, noting that 70% of its users do not have another credit product registered in the bureau’s records. This was coupled with the company’s ability to deliver low single-digit credit loss rates, ranking among the lowest in the country.

Today, 40% of Aplazo users have no credit history, yet the company maintains a credit approval rate above 80%. Peña emphasized that these results highlight the importance of the Aplazo product and the team’s ability to establish a sustainable business model while providing value to both consumers and merchants.

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Aplazo stands out from any other BNPL provider as the only player that truly offers endless possibilities where a user can “buy now, pay later”. In addition to having Mexico’s largest merchant network, both online and offline, Aplazo offers a single-use virtual card that allows users to purchase in installments wherever they want.

“We have identified clear gaps in the market as we seek to offer consumers better payment and financing products,” Peña added. “We see an opportunity to provide deeper engagement with our customers as they begin to transact more frequently with us. Our ability to offer ubiquitous BNPL services enables the 88% of Mexicans who do not have credit cards to making daily purchases and payments we will see them later in installments, in a simple to understand way, which has a good resonance with the less advantaged Mexican population.”

Aplazo’s success has also been attributed to its focus on providing an exceptional experience to brands. “We serve as a growth lever for our merchant partners to attract new customers and drive online and in-store sales,” said Alex Wieland, chief revenue officer and co-founder of Aplazo. “After working with Aplazo, our partners have seen an average of 60% higher average order value and 30% higher conversion. Additionally, all Aplazo merchants have access to a marketing technology stack and AI tools designed to understand customers’ unique insights to better manage their business.”

Mike Packer, partner at QED Investors and head of LatAm, added: “We are incredibly excited to partner with Aplazo on the journey to become the payment solution of choice in Mexico. The company has made great progress in recent years, including providing economics sustainable units with a laser focus on customer experience. Angel and Alex have surrounded themselves with a world-class team that we believe is only scratching the surface of payment opportunities for consumers and merchants in Mexico.”

Andre Maciel, partner at Volpe Capital, 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 others competitors we have seen in the region, but also comfortably position the company for self-funded growth in the future.”

About QED Investors:

QED Investors is a leading global venture capital firm headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. Founded by Nigel Morris and Frank Rotman in 2007, QED Investors is focused on investing in disruptive financial services companies around the world. 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.

Information on Volpe Capital:

Founded in 2021, Volpe Capital seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing in technology-enabled and high-growth opportunities in Latin America. Its partners bring experience from global growth investors and investment banking, such as Warburg Pincus, SoftBank and JP Morgan. Its investments include Caju, CRM&Bonus, Connectly, Uol Edtech, Atlas, Seedz and Welbe.

About Aplazo:

Aplazo is a modern payment network that offers payment solutions and tools to help merchants sell more and grow their brands. With Aplazo, merchants can offer installment payment plans to the 88% of the Mexican population who do not have access to credit cards and cannot pay in installments and instant payments resulting in more than 60% savings on processing fees for the traders. Aplazo merchants have access to a marketing technology stack and AI tools designed to eliminate many of the delivery points in commerce to better manage their business.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240513556631/en/

Contacts

Jessica Hoyos
jessica@aplazo.mx

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