- dLocal, a payments fintech focusing on emerging markets, just raised $200 million at a $1.2 billion valuation in a round led by General Atlantic.
- Until now, dLocal was bootstrapped, making this its first venture round.
- dLocal wants to be the Adyen for emerging markets.
- Here’s the 10-page pitch deck it used to close the round.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Unicorns have become a dime a dozen in fintech. Globally, there are over 60 fintechs with private valuations over $1 billion.
So while dLocal, a payments fintech connecting companies to emerging markets, might not turn heads with its recently reached unicorn status, how it got there is surprising.
Unlike many of the fintechs in the space, dLocal’s rise wasn’t fueled by several rounds of venture-capital money. Instead, the startup has been bootstrapped since its founding in 2016.
That changed earlier this month when dLocal secured $200 million in a funding round led by the private-equity giant General Atlantic, valuing the company at $1.2 billion.
dLocal’s platform helps companies like Amazon, Shopify, and Uber accept and send payments in emerging markets. Essentially, dLocal wants to be the Adyen of emerging markets.
Adyen, which is headquartered in the Netherlands, went public in 2018 and has a market cap of about $56 billion. General Atlantic is an investor in Adyen, and dLocal CEO Sebastian Kanovich said adding GA to its capitalization table will help it achieve that goal.
“We are excited about the experience that GA has with Adyen. Adyen is a company we really respect, and one which we compete with,” Kanovich told Business Insider.
“We think we are very well positioned to be Adyen, but for emerging markets,” he said.
dLocal operates in 18 countries and is integrated into the e-commerce giant Shopify’s platform. And over the next year, it’s planning to add 13 new markets to its platform, focusing on Central America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
“For our merchants, for DiDi, Uber, and Amazon, growth is going to come from emerging markets,” Kanovich said.
And dLocal is seeing a boost from these tech giants looking to grow in regions outside their core markets.
“Historically, what would have been priority No. 5 became priority No. 1. And we happen to be in the middle of that trend,” Kanovich added.
Find more pitch decks in our searchable pitch-deck library here.
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