Akua Receives $4.3 Million In Investment To Boost Its Offering

Akua, a new payments company from Latin America, has received $4.3 million in seed funding. This fund came from Propel and other investors like Plug and Play, RallyCap, HTwenty, ICventures, and Flourish Ventures. According to the update, the funds will help the company grow and expand its services.

The company noted that the funds will help it run for the next 28 months. Akua has a group of 25 workers and intends to launch its new payment system at the beginning of next year. This system has been worked on for eight months and will be ready soon to support businesses in Latin America.

Akua Aims To Work With Mastercard And Visa To Process Card Payments

Akua revealed that it will first work with Visa and Mastercard to process card payments. Later, the company will add other ways to pay so businesses can use more types of payments. This will present Akua’s clients with extra choices and enhance the speed and safety of payments.

Akua will start operating in Colombia, where it will compete with big companies like Redeban and Credibanco. The company plans to grow into other countries, including Peru, Mexico, Brazil, and Chile. These markets are important to Akua’s plan to expand across Latin America.

Carlos Marín, Akua’s Chief Executive Officer, revealed that he had previously worked for PayU, Pomelo, and Mastercard. He said the payment systems in Latin America are outdated and slow. He added that many businesses still use old systems that are over 30 years old, which results in slow payments and more fraud. Carlos explained that Akua’s goal is to help businesses in the region by offering better and faster payment methods.

Akua Plans To Offer Businesses The Best Options For Processing Payments

Marín said Akua will allow businesses to choose the best way to process payments. The company will help businesses pick the payment option that is most efficient and secure, reducing costs and fraud.

The funding round went very well for Akua. Marín noted that the firm attracted $18 million in investment offers in less than three months, but it chose to stop at $4.3 million. The company had talks with 80 different investors, and 20 of them decided to invest in Akua.

Akua’s team includes experts like Juan José Behrend from Uruguay and Rodrigo Rodrigues from Brazil. Behrend has worked at other big companies like DLocal and Pomelo, while Rodrigues was in charge of card payments at Mastercard in Brazil and Jeeves.

As Akua grows, it aims to improve the way payments are processed in Latin America. According to the update, this will bring more competition, and better services, and help more businesses use digital payments in the future.