Akua raises $4.3 million in seed funding!

Akua, a payment processing platform based in Latin America, announced today that it has secured an initial investment of $4.3 million led by Propel and supported by Plug and Play, HTenty, RallyCap, Flourish Ventures and ICVentures, together with high-impact angel investors with experience in companies such as Mastercard, DLocal, Jeeves and Nubank, providing the necessary support for the ambitious fintech project.

With this support, it is building the first as-a-service purchaser processing platform with direct connections to the most relevant payment methods in the region. Completely cloud-native, highly secure, operated in real time and powered by artificial intelligence, the technology aims to set a new standard of efficiency and trust for financial institutions and merchants.

Fintech was recently founded by three renowned technology industry leaders, who together have more than 45 years of combined experience in the payments industry. The Colombian Carlos Marín , who played key roles in PayU and Mastercard, leading acquisition and issuance strategies, in addition to launching Pomelo's operations in the Andean markets; the Uruguayan Juan José Behrend , responsible for building technology in companies such as DLocal, Pomelo and PedidosYa; and Brazilian Rodrigues, who led the development of neobanks for Mastercard in Brazil, launched the Movii acquisition vertical in Colombia and managed global card operations for Jeeves.

“With more than 45 years of combined experience in the fintech sector, the founding team (Carlos Marín (CEO), Juan José Behrend (CTO) and Rodrigues Rodrigues (COO)) brings a wealth of knowledge from leading companies such as Pomelo, PayU and Mastercard. This team is as strong as it could be for the product they are developing; we believe that they are in a unique position to transform the payment landscape in Latin America,” he said Renzo Sesana, director of HTenty Capital Innovation.

In Latin America and the rest of the world, the rails on which most payment transactions are processed were built more than 30 years ago and are still used today. This has resulted in a payments ecosystem that operates on an inefficient and fragmented infrastructure.

‍A commitment to innovation in Latin America

With this funding, Fintech is working to launch its platform in Colombia next year, with plans for accelerated expansion to Mexico, Peru, Chile and Brazil. In its first phase, it will allow the processing of payments with cards with direct connections to Visa and Mastercard, followed by the inclusion of alternative payment methods.

“The payments landscape in Latin America is at a crucial inflection point. Many companies are still using legacy systems from three decades ago that result in slow processing times and high rates of fraud. We will be the first to offer a regionally integrated platform for the processing of any payment channel, to provide efficiency, productivity and promptness to consumers through the organizations that serve them,” he said Carlos Marín, CEO of Akua.

Currently, Latin America loses around 20% of total e-commerce revenues due to fraud, a statistic that highlights the urgent need to improve payment processing infrastructure. Despite the rise of digital payments, Mexico, for example, has seen only a 5% adoption of contactless payment systems, and is one of the countries most affected by online fraud, with alarming statistics indicating that the country faces around 463 fraudulent digital transactions every hour.

Founded just a few months ago, Akua already has more than 20 employees spread across several Latin American countries, 90% of whom are engineers from major global technology companies. The name “Akua” is inspired by the Wayuu people, an indigenous community in the La Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia, and is translated as “speed”, reflecting the company's commitment to agility and efficiency in payment processing.

Key features of the Akua platform:

● Cloud-native technology: Unlike traditional payment processors that use older technology, Akua operates completely in the cloud. This allows them to provide services faster and with greater flexibility. Example: If a customer wants to pay for a product online, Akua processes that payment in real time, making the transaction quick and smooth.

● Integration between payment methods: Akua can manage different types of payment systems (such as credit cards, digital wallets, and even cryptocurrencies) in one place. Example: A merchant can use Akua to accept payments from Visa, Mastercard and multiple digital wallets without needing separate systems for each one.

● Advanced fraud prevention: Akua includes built-in tools that help detect and

Prevent fraudulent transactions, which protects companies from losses. Example: Yes

If someone tries to buy with a stolen credit card, Akua's system can detect it.

Transaction and stop it before it is performed.

As demand for digital payment solutions continues to increase, and Mexico's e-commerce market is projected to grow from $74 billion in 2023 to $176.8 billion in 2026, Akua aims to capture a 10% market share in three years, with an estimated annual revenue of $315 million from a total addressable market of $15 billion.