27. Kapital
Kapital provides credit lines and credit cards to small businesses, and a management platform providing real-time visibility into operations and cash flow.
Founders: Rene Saul (CEO), Fernando Sandoval, Eder Echeverria, Arjun Sethi
Launched: 2020
Headquarters: Mexico City, Mexico
Funding: $295 million
Valuation: N/A
Key technologies: Artificial intelligence, blockchain, deep neural networks/deep learning, generative AI, machine learning
Industry: Fintech
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 0
Small businesses dominate the global economy, and yet few banks focus on lending credit to this underserved demographic. According to the World Bank, small and medium-sized businesses make up 90% of global companies but only get 10.5% of total bank credit available. Even those that do get bank credit often don't have the kind of robust business management platform that large enterprises have.
Kapital hones in on these two areas. It gives businesses access to capital through revolving credit lines and business credit cards, while its business management platform provides real-time visibility into operations, cash flows, management of loans, payroll, benefits and invoicing.
"That's what we're fixing — we give them visibility of their finances," Rene Saul, who co-founded Kapital with Fernando Sandoval in 2020, told TechCrunch.
Kapital uses artificial intelligence to serve this group of business customers. Its AI helps to underwrite loans. Its dashboard provides predictive analytics to help companies automate and streamline processes like paying suppliers, invoicing or collections. The platform works under a subscription model.
So far, the Mexico City-based fintech has more than 80,000 clients in Mexico, Colombia and Peru. It acquired Banco Autofin Mexico in September and opened its first physical bank branch in Bogota, Colombia, in 2023. More physical locations are planned.
The company raised $165 million in December through a $40 million equity financing round and $125 million in debt financing. Investors included Tribe Capital, Cervin Ventures and Tru Arrow. This was on top of $23 million in equity financing and $45 million in debt raised last May. The company intends to use the funds to research and develop new AI-driven products and enter new markets.
Sign up for our weekly, original newsletter that goes beyond the annual Disruptor 50 list, offering a closer look at list-making companies and their innovative founders.
This story originally appeared on: CNBC - Author:CNBC.com staff
