Kapital gets more of its own capital to help Latin American companies monitor their cash flow

Mexican fintech Kapital secured a new funding round, $20 million in Series A and $45 million in credit facility, less than a year after securing an $8.6 million funding round.

The company, founded by Rene Saul and Fernando Sandoval in 2020, started after the couple sold their previous business and wanted to create a platform that could enable small and medium-sized businesses in Latin America to have all their financial needs. , including cash flow, credit, and investments, all in one place.

“You have to organize the business first, then it will grow,” Saul said in an interview. ” This is what we do. We don’t just give you a company card or tell you to open your own bank account, we provide the complete solution.

Saul added that he and Sandoval saw that companies had no visibility into their finances: many didn’t even know who they owed money to or from whom they had to collect money.

With Kapital, customers have a sort of business reporting platform where they can get a credit card, pay bills in advance, view cash flow, and manage business expenses. Additionally, the company has developed an algorithm that helps customers calculate future income and, if needed, will help them with a future loan “at the exact moment you need it,” Saul said.

Kapital was part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2022 cohort, and last year expanded to Colombia and launched Kapital Flex, a way to defer supplier payments and commercial invoices.

The company now works with more than 11,000 companies and, although Saul declined to discuss revenue growth figures, he said he expected Kapital to be profitable by this summer.

It also launched full automation of its platform two months ago. So, for example, when a customer executes a contract, Kapital’s platform automatically sends an invoice. Additionally, there are plans for other AI-based products, Saul said.

This is where the new capital comes in. Niya Partners and Tribe Capital co-led Series A, which closed a month ago, and were joined by a group of investors including co- founder of Dropbox, Arash Ferdowsi, Marbruck, Broom Ventures, FoundersX, Cresset/True Capital Management, Pioneer Fund, Kube VC and MyAsia VC. Accial provided the credit facility. In total, Kapital has raised over $30 million in equity and $145 million in debt.

“We underwrote over 100 fintech companies and almost none of them were able to monetize,” Tribe Capital CEO Arjun Sethi said via email. “Kapital has reversed the model: using fintech as an acquisition channel. Moreover, their fintech products make money. Their path won’t be easy, but they have a great chance to reinvent SME banking in Latin America. »

Plans for the capital include product development and further expansion into Colombia.

“The idea is to give a business the most important SaaS where you control the money,” Sandoval said in an interview. “And also how can you make it powerful because right now the legacy players are controlling the money. We can provide all of this data to understand the business and help customers make decisions. »