Kushki snags Series A investment to reach more SMEs in the region

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Contxto – Ecuadorian/Colombian Kushki closed its Series A for an undisclosed amount and made the official announcement last Thursday (26). 

Mexico City-based DILA Capital led the round and was joined by Kaszek Ventures, Clocktower Ventures, Magma Partners, and Conexo.

The startup will use the funding to expand throughout the region. At the moment, it operates in Chile, Colombia, Peru, the US, Canada, and Ecuador of course.

Related article: Kushki Pagos acquires fintech QVO to expand into Chile

Kushki to expand while others pause

Interestingly, while some startups have paused their respective regional expansions due to coronavirus, Kushki isn’t the case. 

On the contrary and with good reason, the need for electronic payment solutions may only grow as everyone stays home and reduces their trips to the good ol’ ATM. Correspondingly, businesses will also have to further adopt electronic payments to keep operating.

And it just so happens that this fintech is rolling out the tools and plugins to help businesses get their digital payment operations up and running. 

What may hold a lot of sway for newcomers is that one of Kushki’s products are “smart links” through which payments to the business can be completed via WhatsApp, mail, text message, and/or social media. 

This is a big deal for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as it removes the need for them to have an official webpage. Instead, they can just rely on their Facebook site to manage the payment-end of the business.

Related article: Might your favorite restaurants not survive quarantine? Brazilian fintech, Cora, may help you save them

Keeping SMEs alive

But closing an equity round isn’t the only thing the fintech has been up to. 

In Peru, the government ordered the population into quarantine as of March 16 for a period of 15 days. And now there’s talk of extending this mandate for a larger amount of time. No doubt SMEs are being hit hard by all of this.

And that’s precisely why Kushki is teaming up with Peruvian restaurant booking platform Mesa 24/7. Together, the pair are offering digital gift cards for local diners. 

Consumers buy the card on Mesa 24/7’s website or app. This automatically adds an injection of cash into these restaurants’ books. 

When the government gives the green light to leave home, users can consume what they’d pre-purchased through the gift card.

Related articles: Tech and startups from Ecuador!

-ML