Mexico-Based Unicorn Stori Raises $212 Million to Promote Financial Inclusion

Mexican FinTech Stori says it has raised $212 million in equity and debt financing.

The new funding, announced Tuesday (Aug. 6), will help Stori develop products to promote financial conclusion.

“Since the beginning, my co-founders and I recognized the unfair gap in the traditional financial system in Mexico, which has historically served only certain sectors of the population,” Marlene Garayzar, Stori’s co-founder, said in a news release provided to PYMNTS. “So we set off on our mission to facilitate access to finance, empowering Mexicans and, in the long term, many more people across Latin America.”

“This investment will enable us to continue developing innovative solutions, through technology, that promote financial inclusion and education. It is also a statement of confidence in the future of Mexico,” Garayzar added.

Stori launched its first credit card in 2020, aimed at consumers overlooked by traditional lenders. The company reached unicorn status in 2022 when a funding round raised its valuation to $1.2 billion, also becoming the first Mexican unicorn co-founded by a woman. Last fall, Stori won regulatory approval to launch Stori Cuenta+, its deposit account.

In addition to the new funding, Stori also announced it had named Diego Cabrera Canay, a veteran of companies like dLocal and Mercado Libre, to serve as its new chief financial officer.

Recent reporting by PYMNTS has examined the trend of companies vying for the business of Mexico’s unbanked/underbanked population, including Aviva, which this week raised $5.5 million in seed funding.

“Despite countless attempts by FinTechs and neobanks, the smartphone is not a one-size-fits-all solution for providing financial services; a non-conventional strategy is critical,” said Filiberto Castro, the company’s co-CEO. “We have proven that our phygital strategy is essential to reaching those who most benefit from access to financial services and who have paradoxically been excluded from the formal financial system.”

Last month, Blu Financiero introduced a “mass market” credit card that has a 99% approval rate and can be obtained without a formal credit history.

“We see a classic oligopoly problem where four of the top five banks control 70% of the deposits but are all foreign owned,” Casper Yonel, CEO of Blu, said in a news release. “With Mexico comprising less than 5% of their global balance sheets, these top few banks hold little incentive to develop the unique technology required to serve the growing middle class and mass market.”