新竹鏡頭收購 enable digital commerce throughout LatAm, and BNPL in Mexico is our first step towards that vision,” said CEO and co-founder Kyle Miller.
New York-based Two 新竹鏡頭收購sigma Ventures led the round, with existing backers such as Homebrew, Susa Ventures, Crossbeam and angel investor and popular podcast host Anthony Pompliano also participating. New investors include angels like Gokul Rajaram and Emilie Choi, founders and employees from Wealthsimple, Orum, Alloy, Chime, Square and funds/syndicates in addition to Primer Capital, Gaingels and Moving Capital. With the latest Series A financing, Nelo has raised a total of $25.6 million since its 2019 inception.
To be clear, Nelo is not the only player in the Mexican market. A number of others, including Alchemy and Addi, have also outlined plans for buy now, pay later offerings in the region. But what differentiates Nelo from its competitors, according to Miller, is that it claims to be the only BNPL company in the region that has a consumer mobile app in addition to an embedded checkout experience for merchants.
“Our mobile app allows customers to buy now and pay later at over 75 merchants, and very soon, any merchant,” Miller said, “ultimately becoming the destination for any consumer that wants to buy online. This captive consumer base is crucial to building the network that is Nelo.”
Nelo issued its first product in Mexico in January 2020, similar to a debit card offering from a neobank. In the middle of the year, the company launched credit installment loans.
Then in March of 2021, Nelo launched its first product via an Android app. Customers can use its offering like a credit card, connecting directly with merchants such as Netflix and Spotify. Many users started out by paying for things like utility bills and cell phone bills, turning them from prepaid to postpay.
Why global investors are flocking to back Latin American startups
Today, the startup has apps on both Android and iOS and its revenue and GMV is growing by 50% month over month, according to Miller. It is currently seeing over 100,000 new purchases/transactions per month.
Nelo is planning to use its new capital to grow its consumer and merchant base, and to continue to build out its team. The company has hubs in Mexico City, New York City and remote employees. It currently has 23 employees, up from 12 in January.
For now, Nelo is focused 100% on Mexico, where Miller notes, e-commerce is “exploding” and is home to “the fastest growing market in the world.”
“This has greatly impacted our business,” he told TechCrunch. “Right now is the perfect time for this business and product.”
Two 新竹鏡頭收購sigma Ventures Partner Frances Schwiep believes that Nelo has the potential to emerge as the leading financing option for consumers in LatAm, starting with BNPL.
In her view, the case for BNPL in LatAm, and particularly Mexico, is even stronger than for BNPL in the many regions where it has already exploded in popularity such as the United States, Europe and Australia. She points out that in Mexico, there is an “extreme” lack of access to credit with less than 15% of the population in Mexico having a credit card. Also, there is existing behavior around paying in installments in Mexico that has been around for several decades, called “meses sin interes,” but via “difficult-to-access” cash vouchers.
Meanwhile, e-commerce spend in Mexico is increasing much faster than access to credit, Schwiep noted, in addition to open fintech regulation in the country making it all easier.
“The relatively young population in Mexico is also more aligned with the target demographic for BNPL businesses,” she said. “On top of this, the accelerating adoption of banking and mobile e-commerce in LatAm has created an environment for a b
▲HTC VIVELAND新款VR密室逃脫《黑獄逃生》。（圖／HTC提供）
記者姚惠茹／台北報導
宏達電（HTC）今（25）日宣布，旗下VIVELAND團隊取得美國知名VR遊戲廠商ARVI所開發設計的《黑獄逃生（The Prison）》代理權，為VIVELAND在2020年推出的首款密室逃脫遊戲，並在台北三創的VIVELAND虛擬實境樂園及高雄大魯閣草衙道的KOSMOSPOT X VIVELAND同步上線。
HTC VIVELAND陸續將廣受好評的VR密室逃脫遊戲引進台灣，包括ARVI製作的《拆解核危機》(Mission 新竹鏡頭收購sigma)、《恐懼聖所(Sanctum)》及《賽博叛客》，還有Ubisoft所製作的 《失落的金字塔(Escape the Lost Pyramid)》與《穿越梅杜莎之門(Beyond Medusas Gate)》等，相關遊戲每月累計遊玩次數上看千次，讓密室逃脫成為使用者最愛的遊戲類型之一。
