Mexican neobank albo has closed an extension of its Series A funding round, topping it up with another $19 million from, among others, Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures.
Valar Ventures, the investment fund co-founded by Thiel with Andrew McCormack and James Fitzgerald, was joined by Mountain Nazca, Greyhound Capital and Flourish Ventures (formerly Omidyar Network). They top up a Series A round which now stands at $26 million.
Launched in 2016, albo, offers consumers a digital account and smart budgeting app alongside a prepaid Mastercard to receive, transfer, and spend their money.
The startup is looking to exploit new Mexican rules aimed at regulating the fintech sector and using digital banking services to boost financial inclusion in a country where around half the population does not have access to a bank account.
Albo currently claims around 200,000 monthly active users and will tap the latest funding to continue to scale, as well as make hires and develop new products.
Says Valar's McCormack: "We identified the leadership of albo in the region as a reference of the fintech ecosystem that is changing the rules of the game and driving financial inclusion from a talented team, with great ambitions.
"Based on the experience we have in digital financial services worldwide, we want to grow with them and take them to the next level of operations in Mexico."