Mexican FinTech Clara joins unicorn club

Clara, a Mexico-based corporate spend management solution, has joined the unicorn club following the close of a $70m Series B.

The FinTech company has reached a $1bn valuation just eight months after launching its operations in Mexico. Clara claims this makes it the fastest Latin American startup to reach unicorn status in the region.

Coatue, a seasoned FinTech investment firm, served as the lead investor. As part of the deal, Coatue general partner Michael Gilroy has joined the Clara board of directors.

Alongside the close of the investment, the company has launched its services in Brazil. It already has 100 customers in the country and has an initial team of 40 people in Brazil.

Thanks to a license agreement with Mastercard, Clara can operate without needing third parties or sponsor banks.

With the close of the Series B, the company hopes to hire more engineers, designers and product team members.

Clara is an end-to-end corporate spend management platform aimed at businesses in Latin America. The platform lets companies see all their payments in a single location and make payments through a virtual card.

Clara CEO and co-founder Gerry Giacom?n Colyer said, ?Since Clara’s inception, our goal has been to offer the best corporate spend management solution based on a solid infrastructure, adhering to local regulations, so we can contribute to the growth and competitiveness of all companies in Latin America.

?We’ve been entrepreneurs and executives in companies that have operated across the region, so we know that the needs are similar in Brazil as they are in Mexico or Colombia. Further, we have many customers that operate throughout these countries, and we’re thrilled to be their ally.”

The FinTech company raised $35m in Series A funding earlier this year. It initially secured $30m and then a couple of months later, it extended the round by an additional $5m.

Copyright ? 2021 FinTech Global

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