Following its participation in the YCombinator Summer 2023 cohort, Coba successfully closed a $2.2 million seed funding round. This round saw contributions from leading investors Alaya Capital and Switch VC, alongside additional investors including the founding family of Banco BASE, a major B2B forex bank in Mexico, and Topaz, a significant Mexican investor in NuBank. This financial backing underscores Coba’s growing influence in the fintech landscape.
Claudio Barahona, Managing Partner at Alaya Capital, highlighted Coba’s impact on remote work dynamics, praising its seamless U.S. dollar account and integrated banking payments in Mexico. Coba’s approach to cross-border payments is pioneering, offering a seamless solution for remote workers’ financial management in a global workspace.
Coba stands out as the first fintech solution efficiently addressing the cross-border financial needs of Latin American remote workers earning in dollars. By partnering with leading financial institutions on both sides of the border, Coba provides a robust ecosystem of services: a U.S. account for USD deposits, USD and local currency spending cards, and local bank transfers without hidden fees or less-than-favorable exchange rates.
For remote workers in markets like Mexico, Coba enables straightforward local purchases and bill payments from their U.S. dollar accounts, enhancing financial fluidity across borders. Looking ahead, Coba aims to grow its community to 5,000 exclusive members, forge B2B partnerships, and expand its portfolio of value-added financial services, including insurance, taxes, payroll advances, and investments.
The genesis of Coba’s vision occurred along the I-35 highway stretch between Austin, Texas, and Monterrey, Mexico, where co-founders Joseph Saliba and Eduardo López, alongside lifelong colleagues Carlos Medellín and Abraham Kuri, sought to address the banking challenges faced by individuals like Eduardo in accessing U.S. banking services. Their collective efforts have positioned Coba as a pivotal player in the fintech space, bridging financial infrastructures across borders for the benefit of Latin American talent and the burgeoning nearshoring trend.
Coba’s mission is more than a financial solution; it’s a testament to the evolving fintech landscape, eliminating the need for physical border crossings for banking purposes, as experienced by Eduardo’s predecessors. With Coba, the next generation, including Eduardo’s son, will witness a seamless financial integration across the Americas, heralding a new era of financial inclusivity and mobility.
