Stori Becomes Mexico's Newest Unicorn, Raising $150 Million
MEXICO CITY, July 15, 2022 - Stori, a rapidly growing fintech company offering credit card products to Mexico's underserved population, today announced its latest round of financing of $150 million, which values the company at $1.2 billion. As a result of this latest round of financing, Stori now joins a select group of Mexico-based companies to achieve "unicorn" status.
Stori's latest Series C-2 financing comes just nine months after raising one of Latin America's largest Series C rounds and includes a $50 million equity investment from BAI Capital, GIC, and GGV Capital, along with participation from other existing and new investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst, Vision Plus Capital, Goodwater Capital, Tresalia Capital and Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP. Additionally, Davidson Kempner arranged a $100 million debt facility for the Company.
"Stori's ability to raise this round during a time of economic uncertainty demonstrates the confidence of investors in Stori and its mission," commented Annabelle Long, Founding Partner, BAI Capital. "Stori stands out from its competitors with its strong team, disciplined execution, and unparalleled capacity to serve the underbanked populations."
Founded in 2018, Stori offers credit card products to underserved populations. With more than 1.4 million customers in Mexico, Stori offers every customer the chance to obtain a credit card and build their credit history with no complicated paperwork, no credit history, and no annual fee. The entire user experience - from applying for the card to paying bills - is carried out through the Stori mobile app.
"The Stori team is a rare combination of industry background, hustle and change-the-world attitude. The market demand for inclusive financial products tuned for local markets is clear, and the results are not surprising. We continue to be excited about partnering with the Stori team as they grow across Latin America" commented Hans Tung, Managing Partner, GGV Capital.
Proceeds from this latest round of financing will be used to invest in the growth of the team and extend product offerings beyond the credit card. The company also plans on expanding its geographic reach across Latin America targeting 100 million underserved consumers.
"This new round of investment is a significant milestone and takes us one step closer towards our vision of changing the lives of millions who are currently underserved by traditional financial institutions," said Bin Chen, Stori CEO and Co-Founder. "By addressing key pain points of our customers with a simple and mobile-first experience, we hope to play a major role in democratizing credit access, making our customers' lives easier, and supporting economic growth across Latin America."
Stori joins the ranks of the very few Mexican startups who reached unicorn status, bringing it one step closer to its ambitious goal of serving 100 million underserved customers in Latin America. Marlene Garayzar, Chief Governance Officer and Co-Founder, becomes the first Mexican woman to have founded a unicorn technology startup in the country.
"We are proud to bring financial inclusion to more than 1.4 million customers in Mexico. This important milestone could not have been possible without our incredible teams in Mexico, the US, and Asia, and to all our customers who embraced our brand and product," said Garayzar. "We firmly believe that everyone deserves the opportunities credit and other financial tools can unlock."
From, Stori...
A billion thanks!
About Stori
Stori is building the top consumer fintech in Latin America. With a mission to expand access to credit cards for underserved populations, Stori leverages a mobile-first model and global best practices in product design and underwriting to serve its customers' needs. With Stori, customers have access to not just a universally accepted digital payment card, but also fair credit. For more information, visit here.
For more information on Stori's investors, visit here.
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marketing@storicard.com¡Stori, one of the best technological financiers in Mexico, obtains 200 million dollars of investment!
Mexico City, November 11, 2021 - The financial company Stori, a credit card issuer, announced today that it has closed one of the largest series C investment rounds in Latin America to date, accompanied by a capital increase for debt to be used to finance the rapid growth of Stori's credit card portfolio. The $125 million Series C round was co-led by global investment fund GGV Capital and growth-stage investment fund GIC. They were joined by significant investments from prominent funds focused on consumer technologies, such as General Catalyst and Goodwater Capital. Mexico-based Tresalia Capital also participated with its first fintech investment. Previous Round A and Round B investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Vision Plus Capital, BAI Capital and Source Code Capital also continued to support the company with subsequent investments. In addition to this capital raising, Stori has also secured $75 million in debt financing from impact capital provider Community Investment Management ("CIM").
In the 8 months since its Series B in February 2021, Stori has already become one of the leading issuers of new credit cards in Mexico. More than 2 million Mexicans have applied for a Stori credit card, and that number has grown more than 10 times in the last twelve months. Over the next year, Stori commits to investing the $200 million raised in Mexico to triple its size and expand its product suite to meet customer needs and fulfill its mission of democratizing financial access for millions of people. underserved consumers in the region.
The key to the company's success since its launch continues to be the strength of its global team, with offices in Washington DC, Mexico and Asia, and its commitment to meeting the challenge of financial inclusion. "Our success since launch is a direct result of having a team that is passionate about our mission to empower upward financial mobility for the underserved population. We are incredibly grateful for their hard work and dedication," said Stori Co-Founder Marlene Garayzar. Stori plans to significantly expand his team, doubling down on training and development opportunities for them, building a strong foundation that fosters diverse thinking and an inclusive culture. Stori offers incredible opportunities to generate social impact and professional growth.
Mexico and Latin America are among the largest financial technology opportunities with more than 400 million unattended consumers. "Our mission is to empower financial inclusion for millions of working people, this has been very special and challenging at the same time. We are making great progress by combining technology, data-driven, learning and data-driven underwriting and a mobile user experience. Many things will come in our journey to become the top financial company in Latin America," said Stori CEO and co-founder Bin Chen.
"The Stori team is a perfect example of a seasoned team bringing a global mindset to solving a big local challenge. Using the power of technology to change the lives of hundreds of millions of mass-market and middle-income consumers, Stori has created a differentiated product that is well-suited to serve the largest consumer market in Mexico. We are delighted to partner with the entire Stori team in its growth to serve more consumers throughout the Spanish-speaking world.", Hans Tung , managing partner of GGV Capital and member of the board.
Find opportunities to join the rapidly growing Stori team here:
(US) https://www.storicard.com/en/talent/
(MX) https://www.storicard.com/trabaja-en-stori
About Stori
Stori is building Mexico's leading consumer fintech company and Latin America's leading digital financial services provider, currently focused on expanding access to credit cards for emerging and middle-income populations. Stori is fully technology-enabled and leverages global best practices in product design and underwriting to meet the needs of underserved customers in Latin America. With Stori, customers have access not only to a universal digital payment card, but also to fair credit.
USD $400 million has been invested in Stori, powered by these funds
GGV Capital is a global venture capital firm focused on multi-stage, sector-focused investments. Recognizing that talent to build great companies can come from anywhere, the firm invests in founders who build category-leading companies around the world. Founded in 2000 with roots in Singapore and Silicon Valley, GGV has expanded with additional offices in San Francisco, Shanghai and Beijing. The company manages $9.2 billion in investments in the United States, Canada, China, Southeast Asia, India, Latin America and Israel. Over the last two decades, the company has supported more than 400 companies, including Affirm, Airbnb, Alibaba, BigCommerce, Grab, HashiCorp, Hello, Keep, Kujiale, Opendoor Technologies, Peloton, Poshmark, Slack, Square, StockX, Udaan , Vedantu, Wish, XPeng and Zendesk, among others. More information can be found at www.ggvc.com and @ggvcapital.
GIC is a leading global investment firm established in 1981 to secure Singapore's financial future. As the manager of Singapore's foreign exchange reserves, we take a disciplined, long-term investment approach and are uniquely positioned across a wide range of asset classes and active strategies globally. These include equities, fixed income, real estate, private equity, venture capital and infrastructure. Our long-term focus, our multi-asset capabilities and our global connectivity allow us to be a benchmark investor. We seek to add significant value to our investments. Headquartered in Singapore, we have a global talent force of more than 1,800 people in 10 key financial cities and have investments in more than 40 countries. For more information, visit: gic.com.sg or follow us on LinkedIn.
General Catalyst is a venture capital firm that invests in powerful, positive change that lasts – for our entrepreneurs, our investors, our people and society. We support founders with a long-term vision who challenge the status quo, partnering with them from seed to growth and beyond to build companies that stand the test of time. With offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York, London and Boston, the firm has helped support the growth of companies such as: Airbnb, Deliveroo, Guild, Gusto, Hubspot, Illumio, Lemonade, Livongo, Oscar, Samsara, Snap, Stripe and Warby Parker. For more information visit: www.generalcatalyst.com.
Goodwater's mission is to empower exceptional entrepreneurs who are changing the world through consumer technology. We are dedicated to entrepreneurs who are pioneering powerful new platforms that serve consumer needs in housing, healthcare, food, financial services, transportation, education and entertainment. Our team has more than 40 years of experience investing in leading consumer technology companies around the world, with a portfolio that spans more than 25 countries. Goodwater and its partners have been honored to invest in and help build leading companies such as Chegg, Coupang, Daangn Market, Everly Health, Facebook, Getir, Greenlight, Kakao, MoMo, Monzo, musical.ly/TikTok, Spotify, Stash, Toss , Twitter, Weee! and Xendit. For more information about Goodwater Capital, visit: www.goodwatercap.com.
Tresalia Capital is a leading family office and global investor with investments and transactional experience throughout Latin America, Asia, Europe and the US. As the founding family of Cervecería Modelo (Cerveza Corona), Tresalia has extensive experience in consumer products and deep business relationships throughout the US and Latin America. Tresalia supports founders and management teams in executing a shared vision for growth, combining financial strength with strategic assistance. Tresalia Capital's portfolio includes AB-InBev, Tory Burch, Kio Networks, Casper, Multiplan, Kraft-Heinz, Aliat, and Medistik, as well as early-stage investments such as Kavak, Kovi, Editas, Minu, Miroculus, and GAIA, among others.
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive trends and innovations in the enterprise and consumer sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has supported hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 400 companies globally, including Snap, Nest, Nutanix, AppDynamics, MuleSoft, OYO, Guardant, Affirm, and GrubHub. Lightspeed and its affiliates currently manage $10.5 billion across Lightspeed's global platform, with investment professionals and advisors in Silicon Valley, Israel, India, China, Southeast Asia and Europe. For more information visit: https://lsvp.com/
Vision Plus Capital is a leading venture capital fund in Asia, created in 2015 by a group of partners with experience in investment institutions and Internet companies, such as Ant Financial. With $1.5 billion of capital under management, Vision Plus Capital focuses on early stage and growth stage investments spanning consumer internet, business services/SaaS, FinTech, digital health and advanced computing, and has invested in 100+ portfolio companies with successful IPOs of Li Auto (LI.US) and Tuya (TUYA.US), etc. In the area of Fintech, Vision Plus Capital has invested in startups in multiple countries in Asia and Latin America, including Stori, Advance Intelligence Group and SMY Financial. For more information visit: http://www.vplus.vc/en/.
BAI Capital is a leading growth and venture capital fund in Asia with almost 200 portfolios, including more than 15 IPOs and more than 40 unicorns. Designated as one of the top 3 Fintech investment funds in Asia, BAI is the first investor in multiple leading Fintech unicorns in Asia and the world, such as Linklogis Group (HKEX.9959), Lexin Group (US.LX), Yixin Group ( HKEX.2051), Opay, Stori and Babel Finance, etc. BAI focuses on sectors such as urbanization and demographic change, financial services, social networks, media and content, and technology and infrastructure. Backed by the European Bertelsmann Group, a media, services and education corporation operating in 50 countries around the world, BAI supports the growth of its portfolio companies not only with long-term capital, but also with the vast global resources and channels of the Bertelsmann group. For more information visit: http://www.baifund.com
Founded in 2014, Source Code Capital currently manages around RMB 35 billion in both RMB and USD. We insist on bottom-up fundamental thinking and in-depth research to drive our investments. Since its inception, Source Code Capital has been engaged in investments that promote innovation and technological development, support small and medium-sized businesses, enrich and improve people's livelihoods, and promote green development, among other areas. We have partnered with over 300 companies across multiple industries, spanning industrial digitization, artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced manufacturing, green development, enterprise software, healthcare and biotech, new consumer and new brands , and Global+. For more information visit: https://sourcecodecap.com/en/
Community Investment Management (CIM) is a global institutional impact investment firm that provides strategic debt capital to demonstrate and scale responsible innovation in lending to underserved communities in the United States and emerging markets. We believe that responsible financial inclusion of the most disadvantaged is essential for equitable economic growth, the creation and maintenance of employment, and the health and sustainability of local communities. For more information visit: https://cim-llc.com/