Latitud Podcast

#120 – Stori's story of becoming Mexico's 9th unicorn and a credit card giant: Marlene Garayzar

• Latitud • Season 3 • Episode 120

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Stori became the ninth unicorn of Mexico this year, after raising a US$ 150 million equity and debt round last July. And, with it, the credit card fintech got a valuation of 1.2 billion dollars. That's another proof of the impressive strength fintechs are showing in Latin America, even considering the slowdown in relation to 2021.

Stori aims to offer credit card access to 100 million underserved Latin Americans – and about one million and a half Mexicans are already Stori's customers. One of its co-founders is Marlene Garayzar, who has almost 20 years of previous experience in financial services.

Today, Marlene and I talk about:

  • What it's like being the newest Mexican unicorn and growing a startup while growing your own family, and Marlene's trajectory in the financial sector up to Stori;
  • The scenario of credit access in Mexico, and how Stori started, divided roles between founders, built trust with its first customers, convinced funds to invest, and then gained traction;
  • The challenges the fintech faces daily, such as preventing frauds and educating customers, and what's next for Stori and the fintech sector in Latin America.

Building good sh*t in Latin America?