Aplazo plans to use the funding to double its headcount and expand into new countries. Here are the top-line bullets you need to know.
Aplazo, a buy now, pay later (BNPL) startup, has raised $27M in a Series A round. The round drew participation from Oak HC/FT Partners, Kaszek Ventures, and Picus Capital.
How’s the company performing?
- Mexico City-based Aplazo’s omnichannel BNPL platform helps consumers make online and offline purchases in installments, without using a credit card. The platform also enables merchants to increase average basket size and customer engagement.
- Since its inception in November 2020, the startup has partnered with over 500 merchants, including K-Swiss, Sundar Store, Adidas, Cardela, and Abnea, and registered 40% growth month-over-month.
- Since its last funding round 4 months ago, Aplazo’s total processing volume has grown more than 8x.
- The company is currently supported by a team of roughly 50 employees.
Source: Aplazo
Why does the market matter?
- The global digital lending platform market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 18.13% to reach a value of $27.07B by 2028, according to Verified Market Research.
- Today, BNPL accounts for a small portion of the overall spending on payment cards (including credit, debit, and prepaid cards) — the US sees around $8T in overall spending annually. However, BNPL is at an inflection point. By 2025, the global BNPL industry is expected to experience a 10-15x increase in spending volume, surpassing an estimated $1T in annual gross merchandise volume. This growth trajectory has attracted incumbent attention and moved them to improve the digital user experience.
- As of June 2021, BNPL players had already set an annual funding record, raising over $2.1B in equity funding across 20 deals. There have also been major acquisitions in this space this year, such as Square acquiring AfterPay for $29B.
