Emerging Markets Payment Platform dLocal Nets $150 Million

Venture Capital

Friday (April 2) was a big day for dLocal, as the emerging markets payments platform announced the appointment of a new president and a new COO, along with $150 million in new funding.

According to a company news release, this funding round was led by Alekon Capital, along with BOND, D1 Capital Partners and Tiger Global. It follows previous investments from General Atlantic — an early dLocal investor — and Addition.

With the funding comes a shift in leadership. Jacobo Singer, who had been dLocal’s chief operating officer, has been promoted to president, where he will focus on “continuous innovation on the technology front and the geographic expansion of our operations.” Taking Singer’s place as COO is Sumita Pandit, formerly of J.P. Morgan and an investment banking veteran with expertise in FinTech.

“Sumita is a highly respected and accomplished FinTech investment banker, and she’s played a pivotal role advising some of the world’s most successful FinTech companies as they’ve scaled to become global leaders,” dLocal CEO Sebastián Kanovich said in the news release.

According to its website, dLocal “powers local payments in emerging markets, connecting global enterprise merchants with billions of emerging market consumers in 29 countries.” The platform allows companies to accept payments, send payouts and settle funds globally without the need to work through various pay-in/pay-out processors or payment methods.

More than 325 merchants use dLocal to accept more than 600 local payment methods, operating in 29 countries across the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Its customers include Amazon, Dropbox, Mailchimp, Microsoft, Spotify and Uber.

In an interview with PYMNTS’ Karen Webster last year, Kanovich said that emerging markets can be crucial for companies looking to grow, but only if those companies can find a way to localize the payment experience for their customers.