Agua Bendita
“Can a Colombian artisan swimwear brand scale globally as a premium DTC fashion label while preserving its handmade, sustainability-focused identity?”
Founded2003
HQMedellín, Colombia
FoundersMariana Hinestroza, Catalina Álvarez
IndustryE-commerce / DTC brand
The story
Founded in 2003 as a handcrafted swimwear brand in Medellín, Agua Bendita grew from a cottage artisan business into one of Colombia's leading fashion exporters by partnering with local female artisans. Approximately five years ago the founders launched 'Agua by Agua Bendita', a ready-to-wear line that elevated the brand into global high-fashion. To support international e-commerce growth, the company adopted Stripe for payments and Stripe Radar for fraud management, and integrated Sezzle for buy-now-pay-later on its US storefront.
Last 12 months
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Product timeline
2003
Founded by Mariana Hinestroza and Catalina Álvarez, handcrafting swimsuits from leftover fabrics in Medellín, Colombia.· pivot
2018
Launched 'Agua by Agua Bendita', a ready-to-wear fashion line extending beyond swimwear.· pivot
2020
Expanded international e-commerce presence and adopted Stripe as its payment platform to support cross-border sales.· banking
The stack
3 layers disclosed in Agua Bendita’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Lending
in the full report
FX & payouts
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
2 more providers across 2 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.