Mono aims to be ‘first bankingless bank’ for Latin America’s small businesses – Nob6

Opening a enterprise checking account ought to be pretty simple, however after seeing firsthand simply how onerous it was, Salomon Zarruk and Sebastian Ortiz determined they didn’t need one other Latin American enterprise to run into the identical form of problem.

The pair, who labored collectively at Tpaga in Colombia, relocated to Mexico a couple of years in the past to launch the cell pockets firm there, and let’s simply say, Zarruk was lower than impressed with the expertise. The truth is, he informed Nob6 that opening a checking account for the corporate “was a large number.”

What they got here up with was Mono, which suggests “monkey” in Spanish, a fintech firm that gives company or enterprise accounts for startups in Colombia. Zarruk and Ortiz, together with Juan Camilo Poveda and José Tomás Lobo, began Mono in January whereas going via Y Combinator.

Like Zarruk and Ortiz, Poveda has banking expertise, having beforehand developed lending and banking merchandise for Nubank. In the meantime, Lobo has a tech operations and execution background.

The corporate’s identify is impressed from what occurs after there’s a fireplace within the forest, Lobo defined. Although the entire land is black and stuffed with ashes, it’s nonetheless fertile, and when the monkeys begin going from tree-to-tree consuming seeds, they drop most of the seeds on the bottom, which grow to be new progress.

“These seeds thrown make the rebirth of the forest, and we like that analogy as a result of that’s what small companies do for the economic system — entrepreneurs are available and make modifications to the economic system,” he added.

Zarruk referred to as Mono “the primary bankingless financial institution” for startups and small companies in Latin America, offering monetary providers and absolutely digital financial institution accounts that may be opened in round quarter-hour versus a mean of two weeks at an incumbent financial institution.

He defined that the fintech could be labeled “the primary” as a result of he believes the corporate is the primary to construct a financial institution for entrepreneurs in Latin America, what he outlined as an autopilot financial institution, that automates a number of accounting providers which might be extremely handbook in the present day. The truth is, when Mono tried to determine a checking account at one of many large banks in Colombia, after filling out the paperwork, it nonetheless didn’t have an account after two months, Zarruk added.

The checking account perspective can also be the place he claims Mono separates itself from opponents which might be as an alternative approaching enterprise accounts with bank cards, cost terminals or money administration merchandise.

Mono operates with an area banking associate in Colombia and is constructing its personal tech stack. It at the moment affords financial institution accounts with bodily and digital debit playing cards, the power to make and obtain wire transfers and make funds.

“Velocity is our motivation as a result of we wish to assist small companies compete with incumbents,” Zarruk mentioned.

A lot of the corporate’s progress has been natural. By March, Mono had attracted greater than 300 prospects and achieved $1 million in whole cost quantity. Its workforce has grown to 25 staff, and the corporate expects to spherical out its senior management throughout the subsequent 12 months.

To maintain that momentum going, the corporate introduced $6 million in seed funding led by Tiger World (curiously sufficient, Tiger additionally backs an African fintech, additionally named Mono). Additionally taking part within the spherical had been Soma Capital and Y Combinator. Mono has a complete squad of angel investors, however highlights for this spherical, Monzo founder Tom Blomfield, Jamie Devlin from Revolut and founders of Belbo and Fintell.

The brand new funds will allow Mono to plan for future growth to different international locations, like Mexico, Peru, Chile and Brazil.

“We estimate that we have now round 24 months of runway, and a very powerful factor proper now’s product growth,” Zarruk mentioned. “We’re constructing a robust tech stack to combine with third events in order that we will start to supply a number of accounting options, like taxes, accounts receivable and payable processes which might be at the moment troublesome to do.”