Funding Round attributes
Akua, a Colombian startup founded in 2024, was created by Carlos Marín, Juan José Behrend, and Rodrigo Rodrigues, who have extensive electronic payment experience. The company specializes in providing advanced technology solutions to improve payment infrastructure in Latin America. Through its platform, Akua enables acquirers, payment aggregators, and large retailers to manage transactions efficiently and securely using artificial intelligence. In its latest seed financing round, the company raised $4.3 million with the participation of several investors including Propel, H20, Rally Cap, Flourish Ventures, Plug & Play, and ICVentures along with angel investors.
With the recent capital injection, Akua plans to expand its operations and upgrade its technology platform. The funds will be used primarily to increase the capacity of its payment infrastructure, strengthen its development and marketing team, and enhance its regional expansion, especially in markets such as Mexico, Brazil, Peru, and Chile. The technology will allow direct integration with Visa and Mastercard cards. In that sense, they explain that later on, it will add other alternative payment methods, boosting digitization in Latin America.
"We will be the first startup to offer a platform for processing any payment method to provide efficiency, productivity, and immediacy to consumers," said Carlos Marín, Co-Founder and CEO of Akua.
Investors see great potential in Akua due to the growing need for more efficient solutions in Latin America’s payment system. The seed round investment is strategic, as it seeks to support the startup in its mission of addressing the challenges of the payments sector. The support of these investors is crucial, not only for the capital contributed but also for the experience and network of contacts they offer, which will facilitate the growth of Akua.
«This is the right team to provide scalable, secure, and efficient payment processing solutions for LATAM. Harmonizing noise between retailers, card networks, and purchasers is key to unlocking business value and growing the new digital economy,» said David Mort of Propel.
Akua is distinguished by its focus on innovation and the use of artificial intelligence to improve payment infrastructure. The platform it offers is based on an "as a service" model with a direct connection to the most relevant payment methods in the region, which allows its customers to improve operational efficiency and transaction security. In addition, its technology seeks to reduce the costs and times associated with payments, offering a solution that is tailored to the specific needs of each client.
Investor support will allow Akua not only to consolidate in its market but also to create a significant impact on the payments industry in Latin America. With the new funding, the company is well-positioned to continue growing and offering innovative solutions that could transform the payment landscape in the region.
With this investment and its innovation, the startup is positioned as a key piece to digitalize the economy in Latin America. «This round of investment will enable us to accelerate our growth and provide a robust, innovative, and reliable solution that will radically change the way payments are managed, «said Marín».
