Mexican challenger albo raises $45m in Series B funding round
Mexican challenger bank, albo, has raised $45 million in a Series B funding round, putting its total raised at more than $72 million.
Albo claims to be the largest Mexican neobank
The round featured participation from investors Valar Ventures, Greyhound Capital, and Mountain Nazca.
Valar Ventures, which also took part in albo’s Series A round last year, has previously invested in N26 and Transferwise.
Albo retains its position as Mexico’s largest challenger bank, telling TechCrunch it has a network of 30,000 retail locations.
Its latest injection of funds goes towards an expansion into lending and insurance.
The neobank aims to target Mexicans in the middle and low-income bracket, and act as a transitory agent as they move from cash to digital.
Mexico is the second-largest economy in Latin America behind Brazil. If its 130 million people, around 45% are underbanked. World Bank data shows 63% of Mexicans are still wholly reliant on cash.
Albo founder Angel Sahagun estimates his bank has an addressable market of around 59 million people.
The country’s central bank launched a smartphone payment system called CoDi in mid-2019 to reduce cash payments.
In 2018 Mexico’s government passed new rules designed to boost fintech entrance in the region.
Related: Mexico’s credit alternative challenger Klar lands $15m Series A
