Pomelo

Pomelo is a payments infrastructure company that provides card issuing, processing, and management technology for banks, fintechs, and enterprises across Latin America. Founded in 2021 in Buenos Aires, Argentina by former executives from Mastercard, Mercado Pago, and Naranja X, Pomelo operates through a cloud-native, API-based platform designed to enable rapid deployment of credit, debit, and prepaid card programs. The company operates in six countries including Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Pomelo offers two core solutions: issuer processing for companies with existing Mastercard or Visa licenses, and BIN Sponsorship, which allows clients without licenses to leverage Pomelo's own Visa and Mastercard licenses to issue cards. The platform handles over 55 million transactions per day with 99.9% uptime and provides a complete infrastructure including card embossing, logistics, tokenization, and fraud monitoring. In Mexico, Pomelo has integrated with the Visa clearing house to enable faster time-to-market for financial products, though regulatory requirements from the CNBV can extend launch timelines. The company serves over 100 corporate clients including Rappi, Bitso, Stori, PayJoy, Ripio, and AstroPay. Pomelo raised $40 million in Series B funding in January 2024 led by Kaszek, bringing total funding to approximately $103 million. The company allocated 50% of this round to consolidating its presence in Mexico. Pomelo works closely with Mexican regulators and participates in the country's Fintech Committee to advocate for more efficient regulatory processes. The platform supports various use cases including crypto cards, corporate cards, and embedded finance applications across banking, retail, supply chain, and agriculture sectors.