Buy now, pay later services have become so ubiquitous that BNPL can also It’s just another way of saying “debt.” But in Mexico, where the BNPL platform Postponement opera, a great unbanked population makes BNPL more of an alternative to cash.
The four-year-old Mexican fintech startup facilitates split payments to online and offline merchants even when the buyer does not have a credit card.
Aplazo offers end users a virtual card that allows them to buy now and pay later at many stores. A recent $45 million Series B round led by QED Investors should help you further expand your reach, both virtual and physical.
While BNPL often partners with online merchants, e-commerce is still limited in Mexico, and Aplazo says in-store transactions account for more than half of its business. Offering this option is a way for stores to increase sales and loyalty, and it seems to work: The company reports that its revenue tripled last year.
Mike Packer, partner in charge of Latin America at QED, highlighted Aplazo’s progress to date in conversation with TechCrunch. “There is a huge competitive advantage in the network and the product they built. “They’ve been able to do a ton of transactions, a significant amount of data, relationships with almost 10,000 merchants… All of that continues to add up over time.”
The company has also been able to use data and technology to limit credit losses despite its growth, Aplazo CEO Ángel Peña told TechCrunch. “The entire organization has AI built into its DNA and it is something that [brought] tremendous efficiency in the last year. For context, we have cut our delinquency rates in half while [during] In the same period, we have tripled business. “That was definitely made possible by our ability to use AI to support every transaction.”
Unlike the United States, Aplazo can’t always rely on your credit history; According to the company, 40% of its users do not have any. This makes it difficult for international BNPL players to enter Mexico, even when they have a strong market position in other countries, as Affirm or Klarna do.
However, Aplazo has competitors in Mexico, such as its fellow BNPL provider. kueskithat recently associated with Amazon. Others, like Colombian account-to-account payments startup FintocThey are taking a different approach, but with the same goal of reducing transaction fees and friction for merchants.
For Aplazo, BNPL sounds more like a means to an end, a stepping stone to bigger fintech ambitions.
“Our vision is to become the preferred payment method in Mexico; and because of our position in the market, where we serve underserved users and work with underserved merchants, we see many opportunities to expand the relationship with both merchants and consumers to create more value for them,” said Peña.
However, the company is growing cautiously and claims to be close to cash flow balance in recent months with a stable workforce of 130 people. “We are very aware of the efficiency of the company,” Peña said.
This is also in line with what venture capitalists want to see these days and probably explains why Aplazo managed to raise a large round and increase its valuation despite the current context.
Brazilian VC Andre Maciel, whose signature Capital Volpe participated in the round as a new investor, judging in a statement that “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 positions the company for self-financed growth in the future. forward.”
Existing investors Oak HC/FT, Kaszek and Picus Capital also participated in the round, which adds to the bridge financing the company has raised since its $27 million Series A in 2021. In total, the company has raised $100 million in equity and $75 million in committed debt.