MEDIA RELEASE
Allianz X Leads Ualá’s $300M Series E Funding Round
- Ualá will leverage this capital to broaden its financial ecosystem and accelerate growth in Mexico, Argentina and Colombia.
- This round represents the largest growth equity fundraising round in Latin America in the past three years.
- Ualá is set to unlock compelling opportunities in the insurtech space, leveraging Ualá and Allianz’s shared expertise, resources, and cutting-edge technology.
Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Munich, Germany, November 11, 2024 — Ualá, the Latin American neobank founded in Argentina, has raised a $300 million Series E investment round, valuing the company at $2.75 billion on a post-money basis.
The round is led by Allianz X, the growth investments arm of Allianz Group, one of the world’s leading insurers and asset managers. New and existing investors also participated, including Stone Ridge Holdings Group, Tencent, Pershing Square Foundation, Ribbit Capital, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Soros Fund Management LLC, Rodina, SoftBank Latin America Fund, Jefferies, D1 Capital Partners, Claure Group, AlleyCorp and Monashees.
The investment marks one of the largest growth equity fundraising rounds in Latin America in recent years as well as Allianz X’s first investment in the region. The round also stands as the largest equity capital raise for an Argentina-based company since Ualá’s Series D in 2021. This highlights Ualá’s remarkable growth and leadership in the fintech sector.
Ualá will use the proceeds to broaden its financial ecosystem and fuel faster growth in its markets. In only seven years, the neobank has built a comprehensive suite of financial services for over eight million users and acquired full banking licenses. Ualá offers debit and credit cards, payment services, loans, investment products, and acquiring solutions for merchants.
The rapid growth of Ualá’s business in Argentina, underscores the potential of its business model across Latin America. In Mexico, Ualá has consistently grown its active user base by 14% per month since obtaining its full bank license. In addition, Ualá developed its proprietary credit scoring tool, UaláScore, leveraging AI and over 300 data points — including transactional data — to deliver personalized financial solutions and expand access to credit throughout the region.
Dr. Nazim Cetin, CEO of Allianz X, said:
“As a digital financial platform with its own banking licenses, a broad product range, and strong customer growth since 2017, Ualá is uniquely positioned to participate in the upcoming growth of the Latin American financial markets[1]. As a proven growth investor with the backing of a leading global insurer and asset manager, Allianz X is the perfect partner to support Ualá’s next bold steps.”
Pierpaolo Barbieri, Founder and CEO of Ualá, said:
“The future inspires us. This Series E funding will further our financial ecosystem now with fully integrated and operational banks in our markets. The trust and confidence from our investors reaffirms our vision: we will soon be the largest bank in Argentina. Mexico and Colombia are next. Our single focus is the finest product: we will keep delivering the best value proposition for our users in Mexico, Argentina and Colombia — and grow beyond.”
Alongside the investment from Allianz X, Ualá is set to unlock compelling opportunities in the insurtech space, leveraging shared expertise, resources, and cutting-edge technology in cooperation with Allianz. This strategic partnership will drive mutual growth and accelerate market expansion across the promising Latin American region, further enhancing Ualá’s commitment to providing innovative financial solutions.
Hughes Hubbard and Reed LLP acted as legal advisors and Ardea Partners LP acted as financial advisors to Ualá. Milbank LLP acted as legal advisors to Allianz X.
Ualá’s growth in numbers:
- More than 8 million users in less than 7 years.
- More than 7 million loans granted.
- More than 17% of the adult population in Argentina have a Ualá account.
- More than 2.7 million users have invested via Ualá.
- Total Payment Volume (TPV) for our merchant acquiring vertical grew by 55% in the last 12 months.
About Ualá
Ualá is a technology company providing a comprehensive ecosystem of financial solutions, trusted by over 8 million users across Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia. Founded in October 2017 by Pierpaolo Barbieri, Ualá’s mission is to bring financial services in Latin America into the 21st century.
With banking licenses, Ualá offers a wide range of financial products. A key innovation is UaláScore, the company’s proprietary AI-driven credit scoring engine, which uses socio-demographic, transactional, and user data to deliver personalized financial solutions to its users.
Through its mobile app, users can easily and securely perform a variety of financial transactions. These include transferring money, paying bills, accepting payments through Ualá Bis, managing credit and debit cards, accessing credit options and investment tools, and participating in the Ualá+ loyalty and rewards program.
In August 2021, after a Series D investment round led by the SoftBank Latin America Fund and Tencent, Ualá reached a valuation of $2.45 billion, marking the largest private equity fundraising round for an Argentine company. The company is backed by renowned investors such as SoftBank Latin America Fund, Tencent, Kevin Ryan, Soros Fund Management, Jefferies, Bessemer Ventures Partners, Point72, Greyhound Capital, Goldman Sachs, Ribbit Capital, and Monashees.
About Allianz X
Allianz X invests in innovative growth companies in ecosystems relevant to insurance and asset management. It has a global portfolio of around 25 companies and assets under management of about 1.7 billion euros. Allianz X has counted 12 unicorns among its portfolio so far. The heart, brains, and drive behind it all are a talented team of around 40 people in Munich and New York.
On behalf of leading global insurer and asset manager Allianz Group, Allianz X provides an interface between Allianz companies and the broader ecosystem, enabling collaborative partnerships in insurtech, fintech, wealth, and beyond.
As an investor, Allianz X supports growth companies to take the next bold steps and realize their full potential.
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[1]See, for example: The rapid evolution of payments in Latin America by McKinsey & Co. and Lessons from Latin America’s drive to enhance financial and digital inclusion by WEF
