Rodrigo Teijeiro

Colombia’s $200M-ARR secret: Addi has quietly become the country’s go-to way to pay, shop and bank — now serving 2.5M customers and 30k merchants. What began as a BNPL wedge - now includes instantaneous payments, working capital solutions for merchants, and a marketplace to match buyers/sellers. In Latam's 3rd biggest country - population 50m, GDP >$400B - Addi is the best way to pay, shop and soon to get most of your financial services (banking license going live shortly). 💲 $200 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). $1.3 billion annualized GMV. 💰 Gross margins > 55 % (ahead of Nubank, Affirm, and Klarna). 🤖 50+ AI agents driving everything from 70%+ of customer service to regulatory compliance & legal. What began as a disadvantage (there's no "infra as a service" in Colombia like there is in the US) -- is now a strong advantage. We are seeing what "AI first" financial services really mean (evidence in Addi's margins & CSAT scores) It takes time & grit to get to the tipping point where customers are demanding your products and the top merchants are *in*bounding to you, but the network flywheel is now moving fast. As Kaspi has proven in Kazakhstan (a smaller market than Colombia!) -- dominating one market will beat chasing position in a bigger but crowded one. Congrats to the Addi team Santiago Suárez Daniel Vallejo Carlos Andrés Toro Jayesh Ametha Manish Bansal cc Chris Emanuel Marcelo Lima Jonathan Whittle Ian Forrester Ryan Atlas Great interview/pod by Miguel Armaza in comments!

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Exciting news coming out of the #Algarve this week! Direct flights to #NYC from #Faro are now available, and we're thrilled to share that 🏡 Carvoeiro Branco, a prominent #Portuguese property developer, has partnered with Damisa to revolutionize real estate transactions. This collaboration unlocks nearly €45 million in premium real estate, allowing global crypto-native buyers to use regulated stablecoins like USDC, USDT, and EURC for purchases. Carvoeiro Branco's pioneering move makes them one of the first major European developers to integrate blockchain-based payment systems directly. With Damisa's secure and compliant escrow framework, international buyers can now swiftly and cost-effectively finalize property transactions, bypassing traditional cross-border hurdles. A big thank you to MIG Investments, Antrix, Erik de Vlieger, and the entire Damisa team for their hard work in making this innovative partnership a reality. #RealEstate #BlockchainRevolution

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Charles Hudson from Precursor Ventures spent 10 minutes on their podcast debating whether LatAm's $300K ARR bar is helping or hurting founders. His concern: forcing founders to bootstrap to $300K creates "second-tier markets" that produce uninvestable companies optimized for survival instead of hypergrowth. My take in the original post: $300K ARR is the new reality for 90% of LatAm founders who want institutional pre-seed capital. Here's what we're both missing: we're describing symptoms of the same problem. The real issue isn't whether founders should bootstrap or raise early. It's that LatAm has a capital distribution problem disguised as a founder readiness problem. The difference? Geography matters more than most people realize. In the US, abundant pre-seed capital means founders can raise on team + early progress, then use that capital to hit seed metrics. The ecosystem supports pre-traction fundraising. In LatAm, the number of institutional pre-seed funds dropped dramatically post-2022. The ones that remain can set any bar they want because founders have no alternatives. Capital scarcity creates higher bars, not founder inability. So founders face a false choice: → Wait for capital that won't come (burn 12-18 months pitching) → Build proof that unlocks capital (hit $300K ARR bootstrapped) Charles is right that bootstrapping to arbitrary milestones can kill ambition. But he's solving for a market with abundant capital. I'm describing a market where capital scarcity forces founders to prove execution before anyone writes a check. That's not a founder problem. That's a geography problem. The vicious cycle isn't founders becoming uninvestable by bootstrapping. It's founders burning their networks and momentum fundraising pre-traction in a market that won't fund them. More early-stage capital deployed in LatAm. Not funds that bring US thesis and expect US-style traction. Funds that understand regional dynamics while maintaining venture-scale ambition. Until that changes, my advice to the 90% stands: stop fundraising pre-traction. Build to $300K ARR. Prove you can execute. Then investors will compete for you. Because the fastest way to raise capital in a capital-scarce market is to not need it. Shoutout to Charles Hudson and Mia Farnham at Precursor Ventures for the thoughtful analysis. The US-LatAm VC conversation needs more of this. If you're a LatAm founder navigating this reality, I'd love to hear your experience. Drop a comment. And if you're a US investor curious about LatAm dynamics, let's talk. The opportunity is massive, but the playbook is different.

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I'm excited to share my latest Fintech Leaders interview with Santiago Suárez, CEO & Co-Founder of Addi, Colombia's leading financial and commerce platform. Addi has achieved remarkable results: $200M in annual revenue, 55%+ gross margins (higher than Nubank, Affirm, or Klarna), and profitability throughout 2025, all while growing 100%+ year-over-year for five consecutive years. The company now serves 2.5M customers and 30,000 merchants across 1,045 Colombian cities. Santiago's approach to building Addi is unconventional and highly effective. In our conversation, Santiago shared: - His philosophy on board relationships: treating every meeting as a "dirty laundry event" to build trust and get better advice - Why Addi uses a single North Star metric for two years at a time instead of quarterly OKRs - How they built world-class data infrastructure in 2021 (pre-ChatGPT) that now powers 50+ AI agents across the company - The decision to exit Brazil and double down on Colombia—and why it was the right call - Why raising three rounds in nine months during the boom years built the network effects that made Addi profitable today Santiago also discusses why he eliminated all one-on-ones with direct reports, how Addi's AI agents now handle 70% of customer service inquiries, and what he did when burnout hit at the end of 2023. Check out the full interview to learn about Santiago's approach to focus, data infrastructure, and building a fintech that's more profitable than the global giants and has a bright future ahead. Full interview ➡️ https://bit.ly/46Ry1eL

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Some reflections on the experience of opening the mainstage at Fintech NerdCon Miami last week, joining Nik Milanović to share insights into Nubank's journey with our entry into the U.S. market: It was meaningful to participate in this discussion here in Miami, a city that is not only home but also a dynamic center for fintech and digital assets. Being in a key innovation hub reinforces a fundamental truth, that there is still significant room to reinvent people's relationship with money. Our conversation explored how Nubank has been actively transforming the banking landscape for over 127M customers in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, and the opportunities that the U.S. market presents. We also talked about embracing the opportunity to work with regulators wherever we operate to ensure that growth is sustainable and secure. Our model, rooted in a customer-focused vision and accelerated by a digital flywheel, has proven successful and we believe this approach – using technology and thoughtful design to offer financial services that are simple, accessible, and of high quality – can thrive in mature markets like the U.S. This commitment to the customer and our pursuit of innovation on their behalf are what drive us every day. And this is only the beginning. The mission to fight complexity and empower millions remains our focus, and this is a global thesis that is just starting to unfold.

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🚀 Transforming USA-LATAM Cross-Border Payments: The UGC LATAM Advantage 🌍 The flow of funds between the USA and Latin America is vital, yet often slowed by complex regulations, varying local payment methods, and high transaction costs. This is where UGC LATAM is stepping in to redefine the corridor. We are excited to share how UGC LATAM's advanced technology and strategic partnerships with local LATAM fintech leaders are solving this challenge head-on. The Solution? Localized Simplicity, Powered by Global Tech. Seamless Integration: UGC LATAM's platform connects the US financial ecosystem directly with local payment rails across every country in LATAM, bypassing traditional, slow, and costly intermediary chains. The Power of Partnership: By collaborating with top-tier, in-country fintechs, we ensure regulatory compliance and access to the region's diverse and rapidly evolving digital wallets, real-time payment systems (like Pix and SPEI), and local banking networks. This is key to providing true ease of use. A Unified Experience: Our partners' deep local expertise, combined with UGC LATAM's scalable, secure technology, means businesses and consumers can enjoy fast, transparent, and cost-effective cross-border transfers, regardless of the destination country in Latin America. This is more than just a payment solution; it's a foundation for greater trade, economic inclusion, and easier business across the Americas. The future of USA-LATAM payments is here—and it's simple, fast, and local. #CrossBorderPayments #Fintech #LATAM #USATrade #FinancialInnovation #UGC_LATAM #DigitalPayments

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This is an excellent report on the #VC activity in Florida for the first half of 2025, put together by our partner,s eMerge Americas. 💡 5 Takeaways from the eMerge Americas 1H 2025 Florida VC Insights Report: 1. Startups across Florida raised $2.85B across 270 deals, putting 2025 on pace for the strongest year since 2022. 2. AI dominates, 33% of all funded startups are AI-focused, with $830M raised in South Florida alone. 3. Cybersecurity and defense tech are booming, with Tampa emerging as “Cyber Bay” and major new AI-cyber programs launching. 4. Fintech, climatetech & Web3 continue to shine, with record funding and renewed investor confidence in Miami. 5. “If you’re not investing in AI, you’re asleep at the wheel,” says Me! https://lnkd.in/eVb-eYA9

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LATAM PropTech isn’t a niche anymore. If you care about AI talent, fintech rails, or marketplace ops, watch Latin America’s housing stack right now. Why this market is different: - Mortgage penetration <20% of GDP vs. ~60%+ in the U.S., huge room for credit innovation. - Urbanization surging in São Paulo, Mexico City, Bogotá, Lima, Quito = markets with rising demand. - High transaction friction creates outsized wins for teams digitizing KYC, pricing, and underwriting. - AI is breaking through: computer vision, LLMs, and dynamic pricing are moving from pilots to P&L. Some of the companies building the stack: - QuintoAndar: Frictionless rentals & sales, AI-assisted search, pricing, and property management for 300K+ contracts. - Loft: Once an iBuyer, now focused on data-driven liquidity tools and deep comps, helping brokers and sellers price smarter. - Habi: Colombia and Mexico’s housing pricing graph with instant offers; they’ve built the largest verified database for property values in Bogotá and Mexico City. - LaHaus: Simplifies new-home purchases for middle-class buyers; embedded financing + concierge closing to cut deal cycles from 90+ days to <30 days. - Creditas: Pioneering secured lending (home equity, mortgages), unlocking access to credit where traditional underwriting remains ultra-conservative. - Homie.mx / Yuca: From rental guarantees to co-living solutions, these startups are transforming fragmented landlord supply into professionalized inventory. - PROPERATI: Argentina-rooted classifieds aggregator active in Peru & Ecuador, pioneer in open data heatmaps and 3D valuations - Algoma: AI-native platform raising $2.3M to automate site feasibility and investor-grade modeling (Peru-base but PAN-LATAM). - Some of the Investors shaping the space: SoftBank Investment Advisers, KASZEK, QED Investors, Dragoneer Investment Group, Tiger Global now doubling down on prop-fintech and ops software bets. What has changed: - From blitzscaling to lean ops: fewer balance-sheet risks, more software margins. - AI now practical: automated listing QA, fraud detection, natural-language property search (“2BR near Line 4, afternoon light”). - Embedded finance unlocks growth: mortgage pre-approvals, rent-to-own flows, and instant deposits. - Ops + data = moat: winners blend data science with on-the-ground field ops, hard to replicate. Hiring signals: - Hot roles: applied ML, pricing/data engineering, growth PMs, RevOps, compliance. - Human side: agent enablement, landlord success, cross-border ops, GTM. - Post-2022 resets = leaner, senior-heavy teams → great time for high-ownership ICs. The opportunity: Build the Housing OS for LATAM, stitching together data, credit, delightful UX, liquidity, trust and speed. LatAm PropTech is under 5-7% of the global market today, but the upside is enormous. In a decade, don’t be surprised if we see a chart like this for LATAM:

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Brazil’s fintech infrastructure is having a moment. Just yesterday, Kanastra announced a $30M Series B led by F-Prime (closely tied to Fidelity and an early backer of Toast & Plaid), with participation from IFC, Kaszek, Valor Capital, Quona Capital, and Itaú. I couldn’t think of a better time to revisit my conversation with Gustavo Mapeli, co-founder & CEO of Kanastra. In the episode, we unpacked: • Why regulation and wealth decentralization created the perfect storm for fintech infra in Brazil • The contrarian decision to go multi-product from day one • How to build trust and distribution in a concentrated, low-tech market • Why the best cultures are intentionally exclusive • And what makes a 15-year co-founder partnership truly “unbreakable” The highlight reel is below — but if you’d rather go deeper, the full episode and The Insider newsletter version are both linked in the comments.

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Portfolio company Solfium announces its $10m Series A, led by Accion and ALIVE Ventures, with participation from Kamay Ventures. Solfium is building a platform that helps corporates and millions of MSMEs across Mexico transition to clean, reliable, and affordable energy. By integrating financing, installation, and long-term support, Solfium makes solar adoption simple, empowering supply chains to decarbonize without complexity. Since 2022, the company has installed 36,000+ solar panels, adding 25 MW of capacity that will eliminate 281,000 tons of CO₂ and deliver $28m in savings over 25 years. It’s a big step for a country where 99% of businesses are MSMEs, and where high energy costs and outages still hold back productivity. With clients including Coca-Cola and three of Mexico’s top five banks, Solfium is proving that solar can scale commercially and inclusively. Kudos to Andres, Zacharie, and the entire Solfium team. 🇲🇽☀️ ___________________ Rally Cap VC portfolio.

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