The Race to Build the Mexican Nubank Is Heating Up
Ep. 137: Klar $190 million Series C, Plata $120 million bonds, and more!
Your weekly newsletter on technology, startups, and VCs in Spanish-speaking Latin America.
While the world is throwing billions at AI, Mexico’s still playing its favorite card: Fintech.
Why? Because the fundamentals haven’t changed. 70% of the country runs on cash. Trust in traditional banks is at an all-time low. And whoever cracks the code is in for a serious payday.
This week, Klar pulled in a US$190 million Series C at a near-unicorn valuation, while Plata (already a unicorn after its Series A) raised US$120 million in senior unsecured bonds.
We might not be getting an OpenAI from Mexico anytime soon… but the race to build the “Mexican Nubank” is heating up fast.
Follow The Money
🇲🇽 Klar raises a US$ 190 million Series C round
Mexican Fintech Klar has raised US$ 190 million in a Series C round. The round included US$ 170 million in equity and US$ 20 million in venture debt, valuing the company at over US$ 800 million. Klar plans to use the funds to expand its product offerings and accelerate growth in Mexico, its only market. The startup, which recently acquired Tribal’s local assets and began pursuing a banking license, is making close to US$ 300 million in annual revenue and edges closer to a potential IPO.
Sector: FinTech
Founders: Stefan Moller, Daniel Autrique
Investors: General Atlantic, Santander, Televisa, Grupo Fórmula
🇲🇽 Plata raises US$120 million in senior unsecured bonds
Mexican fintech Plata Card has raised US$120 million through its second issuance of senior unsecured bonds in the international market, following strong demand and 1.7x oversubscription from institutional investors. The proceeds will fund growth and refinance existing debt as Plata advances plans to operate as a fully licensed bank in Mexico. This bond offering follows a US$55 million private bond placement in 2023 and a US$160 million Series A in March 2025. Plata, which now has over 1 million users, offers credit cards, BNPL, and a finance app.
Sector: FinTech
Founders: Neri Tollardo, Danil Anisimov
🇲🇽 Plenna raises a US$ 6 million Series A round
Mexican Femtech startup Plenna has raised a US$6 million Series A round to scale its hybrid women’s health platform, which combines physical clinics with digital services. Currently operating four locations in Mexico City, the startup plans to open 13 more nationwide. The team aims to fill a critical gap in women’s preventive care in a country where public health services have struggled.
Sector: FemTech
Founders: Giovanna Abram, Lorena Ostos Rangel
Investors: Dalus Capital, Mazapil, New Ventures, Karla Berman
Startups News
🇲🇽 TikTok Shop is officially launching in Mexico
TikTok Shop is officially launching in Mexico this month, marking its first major expansion into Latin America. Despite restrictions on certain product categories, the move signals TikTok’s continued push to replicate Douyin’s social-commerce success in China, where it generated over US$500 billion in sales last year. While TikTok Shop lags far behind globally, recent U.S. gains indicate growing potential. The Mexico launch comes amid political uncertainty for the app in the U.S., as TikTok accelerates its international ecommerce strategy.
🇨🇴 Go Bravo partnered with Sura Invest Management
Colombian Fintech Go Bravo has partnered with Sura Invest Management, a subsidiary of Grupo Sura, to recover over COP 80 billion (around US$ 20 million) in overdue consumer debt. The alliance includes a structured debt extension and a new agreement for portfolio purchases, enabling Go Bravo to expand its recapitalization model through savings plans and loans to struggling borrowers. Operating across six countries, Go Bravo targets everyday consumers with formal debt over COP 5 million (around US$ 1.200), aiming to rehabilitate their credit via discipline-based financial support.
🇨🇴 trii partners with Mibanco to launch a new CDT product
Colombian Fintech trii and Mibanco have launched a new digital fixed-term deposit (CDT) product, allowing users to invest from as little as US$ 50 directly through the trii app. Aimed at boosting financial inclusion and promoting saving habits in a country where 75% of citizens lack regular savings, the CDT offers flexible terms of 6 to 24 months and an annual return of 10%. The initiative also expands trii’s investment portfolio, complementing its existing offerings like stock trading and investment funds, as the company targets 550,000 clients in Colombia by the end of 2025.
VC - M&A News
🇨🇱 Talana is acquired by Visma
Chilean HRtech Talana has been acquired by Norway-based enterprise software giant Visma. With over 2,300 clients and 600,000 users across Latin America, Talana strengthens Visma’s position in the region as a key provider of HR solutions, including payroll, talent management, and internal communication tools. The acquisition brings Visma Latam’s user base to over 5 million and aligns with its strategy to build a robust, scalable ecosystem for organizational digitalization. Talana will continue to operate independently, expanding its reach while retaining its user-centric approach and local culture.
🇨🇴 Neurona is acquired by US-based FiT
Colombian Fintech Neurona has been acquired by US-based FiT (Finanzas, Innovación y Tecnología). Neurona provides critical payments infrastructure and SaaS tools to banks, cooperatives, and Fintechs in Colombia. The acquisition strengthens FiT’s footprint in Latin America and adds key capabilities in interbank transfers, real-time payments, and PSE integration. Neurona will continue to operate independently under its current leadership, while benefiting from FiT’s strategic and financial backing.
Economy
Citi forecasts an IPO comeback in Latin America
After a two-year drought, Citigroup’s Latin-America banking head Julio Figueroa told LatinFinance that equity markets in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina are about to reopen, with a queue of companies readies to file as soon as rates start to fall. Figueroa highlighted Citi’s own carve-out of Banamex, saying the long-planned dual listing of the Mexican retail bank is “not that far away” now that the legal separation is complete. His bullish view rests on cooling inflation, carry-friendly yields and renewed global appetite for emerging-market risk, factors he believes could restore IPO volumes to pre-2022 levels sooner than investors expect.
Expansion Plans
🇨🇴 Become Digital is expanding to Mexico
Colombian Become Digital is expanding to Mexico to tackle rising digital fraud driven by deepfakes and generative AI. Operating in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama, the startup offers proprietary identity verification technology, boasting a false positive rate under 0.9%. Its expansion targets Mexico’s 130 million-person market, starting with an anti-fraud model for the national ID (INE). Become Digital team said they built their own AI and liveness detection systems, without relying on third-party models like OpenAI, and complies with international data and security standards.
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