Stori announced its $10 million USD Series A2 financing, co-led by Bertelsmann Investments (BI) and Source Code Capital, and joined by existing investor Vision Plus Capital. Stori also launched their credit card, with compelling digital features, in Mexico. This new round of financing will enable Stori to strengthen its big data and AI platform, grow its talent base, and serve 100,000 customers in Mexico. Since its launch in 2018, Stori has raised more than $17 million from investors.
Stori founders chose Mexico to focus on for its digital banking opportunity. Highly concentrated in the super-prime space, the banking industry has underserved the Mexico mass population. Only about 40% of the nearly 130 million population have bank accounts, and less than 15% of consumers have access to bank provided lending. In addition, most banks have not caught up with the digital transformation and are not able to provide a compellingly simple and good customer experience. This is in stark contrast with Mexico’s solid per capita GDP of $9,600, and the fact that 72% of Mexico consumers are already using a smart phone to live a digital life. As a result, a leapfrogging opportunity exists for strong digital bank startups to serve the 70 million unbanked and underbanked consumers, particularly the younger generation, with a superior mobile-first user experience and an inclusive approach.
The Stori card is a transformational product and experience for Mexican consumers who need it most. Within weeks, the first two thousand cards were already activated by eager customers due to its compelling features.
Reflecting on Stori’s promising signs of success, CEO Bin recounts that “Almost two decades ago, one credit card saved me from financial difficulty and helped launch my career. Now we are making it our mission to give the same opportunities to tens of millions of hard-working and responsible Mexicans. In last two years, we have developed a strong big data and AI based platform, and built a fantastic Mexico team supported by global talent and resources. The stage is set to turbocharge our growth in platform, people, brand and customer base, making a big impact on financial inclusion.”
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Stori’s Mexico co-founders, Marlene Garayzar and Manuel Medina, said, “Our mission is to build a leading digital bank in Latin America, starting with Mexico, that drives financial inclusion with technology. Our technology and products will enable average Mexicans to access quality banking products and write their own financial story.”
William Zhao, Bertelsmann Investments’ Head of Fintech, said, “We are very excited about Stori because we see the enormous Mexican market opportunity of using fintech technology to expand the financial coverage to millions of Mexican consumers. We are also very honored to partner with the very experienced and visionary Stori team.”
Di Yuan of Source Code Capital, said, “We are attracted by Stori team’s rich fintech experience, proven operational excellence in Mexico, and commitment to deliver unparalleled digital banking experience to Latin American customers through better technology, products and services.”
Yiran Liu, Partner of Vision Plus Capital, said, “Stori is seizing the opportunity of Mexico’s booming fintech market and has built up a global organization supporting a majority Mexican team in a short period of time. We are optimistic about Stori’s future development in Mexico as well as South America.”
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