Aviva, a pioneering FinTech company from Mexico, has successfully secured a substantial $5.5m in seed funding.
According to Finextra Research, the investment saw participation from an impressive consortium of investors including Krealo, Ignia Partners, Carao Ventures, Rainforest Capital, DCG, Wollef, Newtopia, 500 Global, and Magna VC.
Founded just last year, Aviva has innovatively merged physical and digital banking solutions to serve over 70 million people in Mexico, especially targeting those in smaller cities with populations under 500,000. This demographic, largely involved in informal employment and reliant on cash transactions, presents a significant opportunity for FinTech services, with potential lending assets valued over $150bn.
The core offering of Aviva includes a unique, 100% conversation-based loan application process utilising advances in natural language processing and computer vision technologies. Customers can visit micro-sized bank branches where they are guided through a quick, seven-minute loan approval process via a video call handled by a bot.
Currently operational in 26 cities, Aviva caters predominantly to clients working within the informal sector, with over 50,000 individuals already experiencing its hybrid, or “phygital,” onboarding process. This strategy addresses a critical gap in the financial services sector, targeting those traditionally excluded from formal financial systems.
The freshly acquired funds are earmarked for further development of Aviva’s product offerings, enhancing its partnership distribution model, and expanding its network of kiosks across medium and small-sized cities. By year’s end, Aviva aims to extend its reach to over 50 cities.
Filiberto Castro, Co-CEO of Aviva, emphasized the effectiveness of their approach in a statement: “Despite countless attempts by FinTechs and neobanks, the smartphone is not a one-size-fits-all solution for providing financial services; a non-conventional strategy is critical. We have proven that our phygital strategy is essential to reaching those who most benefit from access to financial services and who have paradoxically been excluded from the formal financial system.”
In previous funding efforts, Aviva has demonstrated robust growth and investor confidence, setting a strong precedent for future expansion and impact in the FinTech sector.
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