Aplazo, an omni-channel payment platform offering flexible payment solutions and commerce enablement tools that help merchants accelerate sales and grow brands, announced the closing of $70 million in additional equity financing, including a $45 million Series B funding round.
QED Investors led the equity funding, including participation from new investor Volpe Capital and existing investors Oak HC/FT, Kaszek, and Picus Capital. Since launching in late 2020, Aplazo has secured over $100 million in equity financing and $75 million in committed debt funding.
The funding round comes on the heels of the company’s threefold revenue growth from rapidly expanding market share among online and offline merchants and strong financial performance, operating near breakeven in the last couple of months.
The company will deploy the additional capital to continue shaping Aplazo’s best-in-class product offering for consumers and merchants alike and double down on product innovation. This includes using AI capabilities to better understand consumer and merchant needs and enhance risk decisions.
Aplazo positioned itself as the category leader in the BNPL space by tackling the massive offline retail market, representing about 93% of total retail sales in Mexico. In-store transactions account for roughly half of Aplazo’s business and have been a meaningful driver of retention and loyalty.
For many cases, Aplazo is the first and only credit source, noting that 70% of its users don’t have another credit product registered on bureau records. This is combined with the firm’s ability to deliver low-single-digit credit loss rates, ranking among the lowest in the country.
About 40% of Aplazo’s users have no credit history, but the company maintains a credit approval rate of over 80%. Peña emphasized Aplazo’s product significance and the team’s capacity to establish a sustainable business model while providing value to consumers and merchants.
Besides having the largest network of merchants in Mexico (online and offline), Aplazo offers a single-use virtual card that enables users to buy in installments anywhere they want.
KEY QUOTES:
“Aplazo set out to become the preferred payment method in Mexico through fair, simple and transparent financial solutions, rather than traditional credit products that lure users into a debt trap. This behavior has been common practice in Mexico over the past decades, and we put the consumer at the core of our fair payment solutions offering. With this investment we look to further advance on our mission and are tremendously excited to welcome QED as one of the leading global consumer fintech investors as a partner on this journey.”
“We’ve identified clear gaps in the market when we look at offering consumers better payment and financing products. We see an opportunity to provide deeper engagement with our customers as they start to transact more frequently with us. Our ability to offer ubiquitous BNPL services allows 88 percent of the Mexicans that don’t have credit cards to make everyday purchases and pay them later in installments in a simple to understand way, which resonates well with the underserved Mexican population.”
- Angel Peña, CEO and co-founder of Aplazo
“We act as a growth lever to our partner merchants to drive new customers and incremental sales online and in-store. After working with Aplazo, our partners have seen on average 60 percent higher average order value and 30 percent higher conversion. Additionally, all Aplazo merchants have access to a marketing tech stack and AI tools that are designed to understand unique customer insights to better run their business.”
- Aplazo’s chief revenue officer and co-founder Alex Wieland
“We are incredibly excited to partner with Aplazo on the journey to become the preferred payment solution in Mexico. The company has made great progress in recent years, including delivering sustainable unit economics with a laser focus on the customer experience. Angel and Alex have surrounded themselves with a world-class team that we believe is just scratching the surface on the consumer and merchant payments opportunity in Mexico.”
- QED Investors partner and head of LatAm Mike Packer
“We are extremely excited to partner with Aplazo as the largest BNPL provider in Mexico. 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 position the company for self-funded growth going forward.”
- Volpe Capital partner Andre Maciel
