ImpactAlpha, October 1 – Latin America’s fintech startups are hot among venture capital investors because they’re reaching a new and large base of customers: the region’s majority of un- and underbanked adults. The latest example is Mexico’s Klar, a digital credit company.
Klar offers a commission-free credit card in a country with only 15% of adults have access to credit products. Its card is supported by an app that offers cashback on purchases and lets users make flexible payments.
The company, which launched last year, wants to reach 100,000 Mexicans by next year. To support its goal, Klar has raised $7.5 million in credit and $50 million in debt from Santander bank’s InnoVentures venture fund and Quona Capital, a financial inclusion-focused venture capital firm.
Quona’s Jonathan Whittle said in a statement that his firm was investing because of Klar’s potential to have “dramatic impact on financial inclusion in Mexico” while Santander’s Manuel Silva Martínez noted the startup’s “ability to imprint a truly customer-centric approach to an ambitious product vision.”
