Clara raises USD 90 mln

This impact debt fund is offered by Skandia and managed by Accial. Clara obtains this line of credit before completing one year of operations in Colombia and is nearing the end of its third year of existence.

This funding will enable Clara to continue strengthening its products in order to meet the financial and technological demands of Colombian and Latin American businesses.

Clara Colombia now has over 1,300 clients, mostly in the technology and financial services, ecommerce, retail, and tourist industries.

Clara has won money for the second time in less than a year. Goldman Sachs provided it a line of credit of up to USD 150 million in August 2022, allowing it to grow its activities, mostly in Mexico.Clara has received funding from regional and worldwide investment firms including Coatue, DST Global Partners, monashees, Kaszek, A*, ICONIQ Growth, Box Group, Global Founders Capital, Canary Ventures, Picus Capital, Avid Ventures, SV Angel, and dozens more angel investors.

Clara under the lens

Clara is an end-to-end spend management system for businesses that focuses on credit cards and spend management solutions directed directly at SMEs. It has grown exponentially in Mexico, making it Latin America's quickest company to achieve unicorn status. Clara's worth surpassed USD 1 billion in May 2021, following a Series B financing round of USD 80 million. Clara is selling credit cards in Brazil through its cooperation with Mastercard. According to market experts, this is an example of a company gaining a lot of traction with a product expansion after piggybacking on its main product, which is its spending management solution for enterprises.

The fintech is planning to grow into Spanish-speaking Latin America, including Chile, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, and Panama. According to corporate authorities, Clara has a fivefold expansion in its customer base planned by the end of 2022, including existing clients such as Justo, Kavak, and Sofia Salud.

The fintech market in Latin America

While the Latin American fintech sector is still in its infancy, it is witnessing rapid development. Nevertheless, the rate of consumer and corporate adoption is encouraging. Brazil has achieved five million connected Open Banking accounts in just two years since initiating its Open Finance project, five times quicker than the UK.

Sadly, fintechs in the area struggled to raise fresh rounds of funding in 2022, which may lead to consolidation and a weaker appetite for risk in 2023. Due to increased interest rates, funds are being reduced in 2023, and their usage is being scrutinised more closely. Investors want new businesses to minimise expenses and become more efficient and lucrative.

But, with a population of 669 million people, 70% of whom are unbanked, and over 60% of point-of-sale transactions being conducted in cash, there is much too much room for disruption.