Five years after its launch in Argentina, fintech Ualá announces that it will invest US$150 million in Latin America over the next 18 months. In addition, it said it will seek to increase its current number of users from 5 million to more than 25 million by 2027.
Last year the financial technology company reached a valuation of $2.45 billion following a Series D raise led by SoftBank Latin America Fund and Tencent in 2021. So far, the Argentine company fintech has raised more than $545 million in funding.
Pierpaolo Barbieri, founder and CEO of Ualá said in a press release that in Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, they have employed 1,500 people, and more than 87% of their revenues were generated during the pandemic.
Ualá’s acquisitions
Ualá has products such as an international debit Mastercard, a point-of-sale terminal, and remittance services. These have been enhanced by the acquisitions that the fintech has made in the region, such as the purchase of Wilobank, the first digital bank in Argentina, which gave the company a banking license in the country.
In Mexico, it acquired the bank ABC Capital (an action subject to approval by local regulators). In Colombia, it began operations in 2022 with an investment of $80 million and a Compañía de Financiamiento license.
This same year, the fintech acquired Ceibo Créditos in Argentina, which provides “buy now, pay later,” and Empretienda, an e-commerce platform for creating your own online store.
They also acquired Ualintec Capital, a platform launched last year to enable Argentines to invest in local instruments such as MEP dollars, Mutual Funds, and CEDEARs.
In addition to Softbank Latin America Fund and Tencent, Ualá is backed by Endeavor Catalyst, Monashees, Soros Fund Management, and D1 Capital Partners, to name a few.
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