Kushki

Kushki is a fintech company providing digital payment solutions and infrastructure to enable businesses and consumers to move money across Latin America, with a primary focus on the Spanish-speaking markets. It offers standardized, scalable payment processing, including acquirer services, under a single integration, generating revenue through transaction-based fees. The company has achieved a valuation of $1.5 billion, becoming Ecuador's first unicorn. To date, Kushki has raised almost $200 million in equity funding from lead investors including Kaszek, SoftBank, Clocktower, and DILA. Operating in five countries across Spanish-speaking Latin America, the firm was founded in 2017 by Aron Schwarzkopf and Sebastián Castro. The firm focuses on digital payments for businesses in Spanish-speaking Latin America, operates in five countries including Ecuador.

Kushki is a Latin‑American paytech and regional non‑bank acquirer that provides end‑to‑end payment processing, fraud prevention, and payout services to businesses expanding across LATAM markets; it positions itself as a unified payments infrastructure to improve acceptance, reduce costs and simplify cross‑country transactions in the region[2][6].

High‑Level Overview

• Mission: Connect Latin America to digital payments through innovation, technology and inclusion, positioning itself as a regional acquirer that handles transactions end‑to‑end with card networks and localized integrations[2][6].
  - Investment philosophy / Key sectors / Impact on the startup ecosystem: (Kushki is a portfolio company / operator, not an investment firm.) As a payments infrastructure provider, it targets e‑commerce, retail (card‑present), marketplaces, fintechs, and verticals such as education, telecom and iGaming, enabling startups and incumbents to enter or scale across LATAM with fewer local integrations and better acceptance rates[1][4][6]. Its impact: reduces fragmentation of local payment rails, raises merchant acceptance and fraud controls, and lowers go‑to‑market friction for international and regional businesses expanding in LATAM[6][1].
  - What product it builds: Kushki builds an omnichannel payments platform that includes gateway/aggregator services, merchant acquiring (regional non‑bank acquirer), payment links, recurring billing, payouts, and fraud prevention[6][2].
  - Who it serves: Large enterprises, marketplaces, PSPs, fintechs and online merchants operating or expanding across Latin American countries (Kushki operates locally in multiple LATAM markets)[6][3].
  - What problem it solves: Consolidates fragmented local payment methods and processors across LATAM into a single platform to improve acceptance rates, simplify settlements, lower integration complexity and reduce fraud and transaction costs[6][1].
  - Growth momentum: Founded in 2017, Kushki has grown rapidly into a regional player with multiple country operations, significant funding (reported total funding rounds and unicorn valuation mentions in coverage), expanded product scope from gateway to regional acquirer, and staff growth into the hundreds[2][5][3].

Origin Story

• Founders and background: Kushki was founded in 2017 by Aron Schwarzkopf (Co‑founder & CEO) and Sebastián Castro (Co‑founder & President); the leadership combines product/technical experience and startup/operator backgrounds[2][4].
  - How the idea emerged: Founders set out to “connect Latin America with payments” by building technology and operational capabilities to overcome LATAM’s fragmented payments landscape and limited cross‑border acceptance[2].
  - Early traction / pivotal moments: Kushki evolved from a payment gateway into a *regional non‑bank acquirer*, directly integrating with card schemes (Visa/Mastercard) and offering end‑to‑end processing—an evolution that expanded its role in the payments value chain and enabled higher acceptance and settlement performance across the region[2][5].

Core Differentiators

• Regional acquirer model: Operates as a non‑bank regional acquirer (handling transactions end‑to‑end and managing relationships with card brands), which reduces dependence on multiple local acquirers and can improve acceptance and settlement consistency[2][6].
  - Unified regional infrastructure: Single proprietary processing platform for multiple LATAM countries simplifies integrations for merchants scaling regionally[6][5].
  - Omnichannel breadth: Supports card‑present, e‑commerce, bank transfers, cash networks, payment links, recurring billing and payouts—covering both PayIns and PayOuts[6][1].
  - Fraud and acceptance optimization: Emphasizes advanced fraud prevention and higher authorization/acceptance rates tailored to LATAM payment characteristics[6][1].
  - Local presence + global product: Combines local country teams and regulatory/operational coverage with a centralized technology stack to adapt to each market’s payment methods and compliance needs[3][6].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

• Trend they ride: Regionalization of payment infrastructure—companies want single integrations to operate across multiple emerging markets; Kushki leverages that demand in LATAM[6].
  - Why timing matters: Rapid e‑commerce adoption and cross‑border digital expansion in LATAM increased the need for reliable, high‑acceptance payment rails and payouts, creating an opening for a regional acquirer/operator since around 2017[1][6].
  - Market forces in their favor: Fragmented local payment ecosystems, high demand for alternative payment methods, growth in digital commerce and the need for improved fraud controls make unified regional processors attractive to merchants and PSPs[6][1].
  - Influence on the ecosystem: By standardizing processing and improving acceptance rates, Kushki lowers technical and commercial barriers for startups and international firms entering LATAM, and pressures incumbents and local acquirers to modernize APIs and services[6][5].

Quick Take & Future Outlook

• What’s next: Continued expansion of acquiring coverage across more LATAM countries, deeper productization of payouts and risk services, and partnerships with global merchants and PSPs seeking a single Latin America on‑ramp[6][5].
  - Trends that will shape their journey: Continued e‑commerce growth, increased regulatory attention to non‑bank acquirers, the rise of localized payment methods and BNPL, and demand for faster cross‑border settlements. Success will depend on regulatory compliance, margins on acquiring, and maintaining strong card‑scheme and local banking relationships[6][1].
  - How their influence might evolve: If Kushki successfully scales its acquiring footprint and keeps improving acceptance and fraud tooling, it could become a de‑facto payments layer for LATAM commerce—accelerating regional market entry for merchants and shaping standards for unified processing across the region[2][6].

Quick take: Kushki has moved quickly from gateway to regional acquirer to address a clear market need—simplifying LATAM payments for merchants and reducing friction for regional expansion—and its future depends on executing cross‑country scale, regulatory navigation, and continued product differentiation in fraud, payouts and acceptance[2][6][5].