- Clara introduces business spend management solution designed to meet the unique needs of Mexican and Latin American enterprises.
- The company provides real-time visibility and seamless spend control for CFOs, accountants, and managers, while empowering employees with easy-to-use corporate credit cards.
- In addition, Clara raised $3.5m USD in a pre-seed round led by General Catalyst with the participation of funds and angel investors from the US, Europe, and Latin America.
- More than 100 companies have already singed up with Clara, including standout startups Kavak, Casai and Sofia Salud, as well as US-headquartered companies with Mexican operations
Mexico City, March 10, 2021- Clara today announced the launch of its corporate card and business spend management solution, an innovative platform that provides modern functionalities for finance teams as well as employees, and is adapted to the needs of Mexican and Latin American companies. Clara's flexibility shares the main advantages of credit, debit and prepaid cards, allowing companies to make all their payments through the same platform.
In addition, Clara has raised a $3.5m USD pre-seed funding round, led by General Catalyst with participation from Picus Capital, Canary Ventures, SV Angel, GFC, SOMA Capital, Liquid2, Adapt Ventures, as well as entrepreneurs and angel investors: Nicky Goulimis from Nova Credit, Karim Atiyeh / Eric Glyman from Ramp, Justin Mateen from Tinder, Courtney McColgan from Runa, James Sagan from Architect Capital, Alan Jiang from Beam, Archie Cochrane from Anthemis, Juan Romero from CEMEX, Luis Garza from Kinedu/Topaz, and Brian Requarth from VivaReal, among others.
“The enthusiasm from funds and individuals investing in our team at a pre-operational stage showcases the critical need for first-class business solutions in Latin America, as well as the promise of growth in the region despite difficulties caused by COVID-19,” said Gerry Giacomán Colyer, co-founder & CEO of Clara.
The growing trend towards digitization in the wake of COVID-19 has led companies to adapt their processes to remote and virtual environments to streamline their activities and increase their potential. That is why the implementation of solutions that help streamline internal processes is key to ensure their growth. Inspired by the current digital context and at the same time, focused on the work of the future, Clara offers unique benefits such as:
- Additional physical and virtual cards with no annual fee.
- Customizable card limits and restrictions.
- Immediate, remote and digital registration: zero bureaucracy.
- Security: adherence to local regulations and the highest security standards.
- Clarity and transparency: visibility at all times of the management of your resources through your web or mobile application (iOS and Android).
“Above all, we want to a first-rate experience to help high-potential companies grow,” said Diego García, co-founder of Clara. “Gerry and I worked together at Grin Scooters, growing to 7 countries and 2,500 employees in one year, and experienced first-hand the problems we’re solving with Clara. Before that we spent years in San Francisco and from our experience we know the importance of taking care of the details that add up to create a magical product experience. There's no need for company finances to be so complicated. Clara emerges to make things simplified and transparent; functional and without unnecessary steps. "
Implementing a technological expense management solution can help reduce up to 58% of the misappropriations of cash and resources within a company, and make it possible for a company to grow quickly without losing control. According to the statistics of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), Mexico currently has over 4 million small and medium enterprises.
The accounting and expense management processes that companies carry out can become an extremely complicated activity, demanding a significant investment of time and resources. There is an undeniable need for tools that provide a digital, seamless experience for accounting and financial management teams. Implementing Clara’s solution is simple, straightforward, and free for companies.