Draft:Albo (bank)

albo is a Mexican financial technology company for individuals and businesses, authorised, regulated, and supervised by the Mexican National Banking and Securities Commission. It was founded in Campeche, Mexico in 2016 and offers nationwide operations through a mobile app, a card, and a platform.

History
Albo was established in 2016, with entrepreneur Ángel Sahagún at the head of the institution. Sahagún currently holds the position of CEO of the company.

After 6 years of operation at national level, in 2022 albo was officially recognised as a Fintech in the country, to be considered as an institution of electronic payment funds (IFPE).

This authorisation is granted by the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV), which regulates the entities that make up the Mexican financial system. It allows the companies that receive it to operate as Electronic Payment Fund Institutions (IFPE), which fall within the framework of the law to Regulate Financial Technology Institutions, also popularly known as Fintech Law.

Throughout its trajectory, the institution has been driven by business angels and seed funding.

The first mega round of investment was achieved in 2019, when $7.4 million was raised from institutional investors led by Mountain Nazca. At that time it already had 60,000 users in Mexico and albo was already established as a bank that was 100% digital, with Mastercard available for financial transactions without commission.

The next mega investment round, Series B, came in 2020, this time raising $45 million. On this occasion, Valar Ventures, Greyhound Capital, Mountain Nazca and Flourish Ventures showed their support for the entity as investment groups. The bank then had half a million customers throughout Mexico and a network of 30,000 retail outlets for deposits.

There was another round of investment in 2023, Series C, which raised $40 million with the participation of Morpheus Ventures, Valar Ventures and Nazca Ventures, among others.

This investment was consolidated a few weeks after announcing the acquisition of delt.ai, which is focused on financing in the corporate sector and is valued at $20 million.

In 2023 it raised its Series C investment round for $40m, with participation from Morpheus Ventures, Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures and Nazca Ventures, among others. This investment was consolidated a few weeks after announcing the acquisition of the firm delt.ai, which is focused on financing in the entrepreneurial sector.

Services
albo specialises in the issuance of international Mastercard and virtual cards, digitally managed through its own app. The mobile app is currently available for Android, iOS, and HarmonyOS 2 devices.

In 2022, the institution confirmed that its operational portfolio reached 2 million users. In the same year, it made the personal credit service available to its customers through its business partner abea.

Also in 2022, albo launched the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies for all interested users, this time through its business partner albit.