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Kushki

Can a Latin American non-bank acquirer own the regional payments stack end-to-end across five countries with one integration?

Founded2017
HQQuito, Ecuador
FoundersAron Schwarzkopf, Sebastián Castro
Total raised~$200M
Latest roundSeries B extension, 2022
Valuation$1.5B (2022)
IndustryInfrastructure / Payments
The story

Founded 2017 in Ecuador as an online payment gateway for LATAM, Kushki has progressively built its own regional acquiring infrastructure rather than reselling banks' rails — making it a non-bank acquirer across Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Ecuador. After back-to-back Series B rounds ($186M total) that vaulted it to unicorn status in 2022, the company expanded from PSP-style gateway services into payouts, in-person devices, and merchant-financing partnerships (Anticipa, HayCash). The strategic identity today is 'paytech omnichannel acquirer for LATAM' rather than a single-country gateway.

Last 12 months
2025-02
2024-10
Product timeline
2017
Founded in Quito, Ecuador as a payment gateway for LATAM· pivot
2021
Raised $86M Series B at $600M valuation· funding
2022
Raised $100M Series B extension at $1.5B valuation· funding
2024
Positioned as regional non-bank acquirer with proprietary acquiring platform across MX/CO/CL/PE/EC· pivot
2025
Partnership with Anticipa to provide embedded financing for Mexican merchants· lending
Regulated entities
Non-bank acquirer
LATAM (MX, CO, CL, PE, EC)
Kushki operadora S.A.
PCI DSS Level 1
Global
Kushki
The stack
Payments / PSP
Kushki (self-operated acquirer)Kushki Payments API (self-operated)Kajita (hosted payment form, self-operated)Smartlink payment links (self-operated)Botón de pagos (self-operated)Pagos presenciales / in-person devices (self-operated)E-commerce plugins (self-operated)
Lending
Kushki + Anticipa merchant financing (Mexico)Kushki + HayCash SME financing (Mexico)
FX & payouts
Kushki Payouts (self-operated)
Accounting gap: significant