In recent years, there is a buzz in the buy now, pay later segment. At this point in time, a Latin American startup Addi has hit the headlines as it bagged a $75 million extension to the Series B investment it secured earlier. Eventually, the total investment raised by this round is $140 million and the overall investment is $220 million.
Mexico launch in 2022
The extension was led by New York-based Greycroft alongside participation from new investors – Citius Capital, GGV Capital, and Intersection Growth Partners. Also, existing investors, including Union Square’s Opportunity Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Endeavor Catalyst, Foundation Capital, Monashees and Quona Capital took part in the round.
Addi will use the investment to accelerate its product roadmap and geographic expansion. Also, it will be launch “a one-click checkout solution” for its merchant partners and customers this year. Currently, it is available for e-commerce, mobile and brick-and-mortar purchases in Brazil and Colombia and there are plans to expand across Latin America and has specific plans to launch in Mexico in early 2022.
Addi co-founder and CEO Santiago Suarez, said, “This round has increased our focus on making digital commerce ubiquitous and accessible across Latin America. “We lost 99% of our GMV in 20 days when the pandemic hit. We had to make some painful decisions, including letting go of many of our colleagues at a very difficult time. “We also refocused the business on e-commerce and digital payments, and we haven’t looked back since then.”
Simpler and easy payments
Addi was founded in 2018 by Santiago Suarez, Daniel Vallejo and Elmer Ortega. Headquarters in Bogota, Colombia, and São Paulo, Brazil, Addi wanted to made frictionless payments possible for all customers. Its vision was to make digital commerce a reality in Latin America, where only a meager 25 per cent of people have a credit card.
It debuted with a buy now, pay later offering. It lets consumers make purchases within a few minutes and pay for the same over three months at no additional cost. The bigger purchases will be provided with up to 24 months of repayment.
While there was a slowdown in business during COVID-19, it bounced back to its pre-COVID high again in March/April of 2021. Currently, Addi has over 260 employees while it was less than 120 last year.
