Ualá, the Argentine neobank founded in 2017 by Pierpaolo Barbieri, closed a financing round for US$ 195 million led by Allianz X, the strategic investment arm of the Allianz Group. The operation values the company at US$3.2 billion and is based on the long-term alliance between both companies to scale insurance solutions in the region. Stone Ridge Holdings Group, Tencent, TABLE Holdings, Soros Fund Management and D1 Capital Partners also participated.
This round is added to the 2024 Series E, which reached US$366 million, bringing the accumulated total to more than US$560 million in capital raised. Pierpaolo Barbieri, a Harvard graduate with a postgraduate degree in Cambridge, founded Ualá with the conviction that more than 50% of adults in Latin America had never had a payment method other than cash, and that technology could change that.
Ualá: complete banking ecosystem from your cell phone
Through a single 100% digital platform, Ualá offers debit and credit cards, loans, investments, insurance and purchases for businesses. Its banking license also allows it to offer a fixed term, a paid account, shares, bonds and Cedears, all from the app. In Mexico, where active clients are growing at a rate of 7% per month since obtaining its banking license, the platform can also create credit history and offer payroll portability.
Together, the company has more than 11 million clients, has granted more than 9.2 million loans and has more than 3 million users who invest through the platform. “We are building the most comprehensive and innovative banking platform in the region,” said Pierpaolo Barbieri, founder of Ualá.
Integrated insurance: the next frontier
With the new capital, Ualá and Allianz
The bet is that in the future insurance will not be sold, but rather will be integrated into everyday financial experiences. With this round, the neobank aims to consolidate its expansion in Mexico and Colombia, while advancing towards its regional profitability goal by 2027.
“Latin America offers a unique combination of scale, digital momentum and a significant level of underinsurance. And Ualá is at the center of that transformation,” said Nazim Cetin, CEO of Allianz X.
