Aviva, a Mexican financial platform that integrates physical and digital elements to serve underbanked populations and micro businesses, has successfully secured $5.5 million in seed funding.
Krealo, the corporate venture capital arm of Credicorp, along with Ignia Partners, Carao Ventures, Rainforest Capital, DCG, Wollef, Newtopia, 500 Global, and Magna VC, participated in what has become Mexico’s largest seed funding round to date this year.
Established in 2022, Aviva aims to reach over 70 million Mexicans living in cities with populations under 500,000, a demographic known for its reliance on informal employment and cash transactions. The startup estimates that this segment offers a substantial market opportunity, exceeding $150 billion in potential lending assets.
Aviva employs 100% conversation-based loan applications utilizing natural language processing and computer vision technology. Customers can receive immediate loan approvals following a seven-minute video consultation conducted by an automated bot at their micro-sized bank branches.
Currently operational in 26 cities, the vast majority of Aviva’s clients work in informal settings, and over 50,000 potential clients have undergone the phygital onboarding process.
The new funding will be allocated towards enhancing Aviva’s range of products, refining its partnership distribution strategy, and expanding its network of kiosks in medium and small cities. The company has ambitious plans to broaden its reach to more than 50 cities by the end of the year.
Filiberto Castro, Co-CEO of Aviva, stated, "Despite numerous efforts from fintech and neobank ventures, a smartphone-based approach does not universally cater to the needs for financial services. A non-conventional approach is essential." He further highlighted that "our phygital strategy has successfully demonstrated itself as vital in engaging those who stand to gain the most from financial services, particularly those who have been sidelined from the traditional financial system."
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