Costa Rica Fintech Zunify exceeds its pre-seed target

Zunify is a payment network that unifies the financial system and allows you to make payments at physical points of sale, e-commerce stores and remote payments in an easy and secure way. In one application, the user can link all his bank accounts and enjoy exclusive promotions when making his payments without having to use plastic cards.

“We are very excited to have successfully completed the pre-incorporation phase and are now moving towards the next phase of investment that will allow us to unite ourselves as a company that comes to facilitate the user’s shopping experience and improve business operations in a safe place,” emphasized Juan Mong, CEO of Zunify.

Zunify’s pre-incorporation target was exceeded by $280,000. The funds raised were used to develop the platform from scratch using proprietary technology and infrastructure that meets the highest security standards and market requirements. Users can now download the app to sign up for their accounts and businesses can take advantage of the benefits offered by Zunify.

Currently, the network has 3 active issuers (including other fintech) which will offer Zunify as a payment option to more than 500,000 people. In addition, Zunify has 60 business alliances, including companies of all sizes, and is integrated into 5 POS systems, providing access to nearly 10,000 businesses.

“Being a four-part model (exporters, buyers, merchants and individuals), we decided to focus initially on the supply side (issuers, acquirers, and traders), and then on the demand side (consumers). In the coming months we will work on acquiring more,” Mongi added. of users and thus establish the network at the national level.

“The development of Zunify has entailed being transparent and rigorous in operations, we have built a data management infrastructure, ready to do integrations, identity verification, and many more factors that require an infusion of capital before going to market,” he said. Sophia Ortega, COO of Zunify.

Joanne Mong believes that despite the fact that increasing investment in Latin America has always been a challenge, we are currently experiencing one of the best times in terms of access to capital and the results obtained by Zunify in this area show that companies in the region are gaining more and more confidence international investors. “One of our main drivers is to create a multiplier effect and help other local startups gain global insight from their inception and organize their companies so that they are suitable to receive international venture capital investment. There is talent in Costa Rica, and strengthening the entrepreneurial environment can achieve many Advantages for the economy,” he emphasized.

Among the investors in Zunify is the Canadian company Loyal VC. This company has invested in more than 200 startups in 46 countries, however, this is the first time they have invested in a company in Central America. One of its goals is to support startups that have a socially and environmentally sustainable vision and that have the potential to continue expanding internationally. Thanks to the global vision that Zunify has had since its inception, Loyal VC decided to invest in it.

“At Loyal VC we finance companies based on their progress. Juan, Sofía and the Zunify team have done an excellent job collaborating with key partners to enable them to implement the payment system on a large scale in the local market. They did and it works. People are signed up. Kamal Hassan said, Co-founder of Loyal VC, we have funded it through several investment rounds so far.

Fundraising also came from other angel investors in the United States and Costa Rica. “When approaching investors, at Zunify we find it important that we agree on values ​​and vision. It is essential when working together that we maintain our alignment with strategic goals and create an environment of trust and transparency,” Munjee adds.

Zunify is developed by a team of Costa Rican professionals with high level technological knowledge and experience. The knowledge that Zunify’s human team gained thanks to their studies at universities such as the Institute of Technology, the National University and the University of Costa Rica, has allowed the development of a service with the potential to be a solution in the financial market, and not only at the national level, if not globally as well.

Zunify is a company registered with the General Supervisory Authority for Financial Entities (SUGEF) and is an entity authorized to operate in SINPE by BCCR. Zunify was recently licensed as a market regulator along with the National Exchange, Visa and Mastercard by the Central Bank of Costa Rica.

More than 60 strategic partners have trusted Zunify, which represents a variety of offers to users. The most recent alliances established by Fintech are with Farmacias Fischel and Laboratorios Labin; Where customers will be able to easily pay for their purchases through a QR code in a total of 94 branches.

“As a form of expertise and convenience, Fischel seeks to provide innovative solutions to customers, such as payment through Zunify where you can scan a QR code quickly, easily and securely. The presence of Zunify brings many benefits to Fischel. On an operational level, it provides flexibility and ensures settlement in every transaction. Because the whole process is automated. In addition, it offers competitiveness in simplicity and dynamism by providing the possibility to create a variety of promotions in a matter of minutes,” added Angie Hernandez, Director of New Channels at Cuestamoras Salud.

source. Central America and the Caribbean digital newspaper