Colombian-based consumer and FinTech company Leal raised $10 million in a Series A fundraising round that will help it roll out its co-branded credit card and increase the size of its Mexico operations, according to a company press release.
Leal will also use the fresh capital to increase its focus on promoting its digital wallet as an ecosystem that offers more than cash back. The money will allow the company to invest in technology development in the next year.
Global internet services leader Rakuten Group, through its investment arm Rakuten Capital, and global FinTech investment firm IDC Ventures co-led Leal’s funding efforts.
Leal features cashback and rewards that encourage savings by earning money back on everyday purchases. The company rolled out new functionality last year that lets grocery shoppers scan paper receipts and earn Leal Coins that users across Colombia and Latin America can redeem for gas, cell phone top-ups and food or grocery deliveries at Rappi, among thousands of perks.
“We’re processing over 40 million purchases every year from millions of Latin Americans who are using Leal to be smarter shoppers, save money and feel truly rewarded,” said Florence Frech, co-founder and COO of Leal, in the company press release.
“Over 80% of these purchases are done in cash. We now want to improve our users’ well-being by also giving them access to digital payments and financial services,” she said.
In 2022, Leal will increase its focus on financial services, expand its rewards program, digital wallet, payment ecosystem, user base, merchant network and Leal Coins throughout Mexico, Colombia and Central America.
“We have a unique opportunity to accelerate financial inclusion and serve the latent demand for consumer-facing fintech in LATAM with a very different approach for digitalizing the underbanked,” said Camilo Martinez, co-founder and CEO of Leal, in the company press release.
Related: FinTech Clara, Mastercard Expand in Colombia
Last week, Latin American unicorn Clara launched into Colombia with support from Mastercard’s global payments network.
