Mexico City-based end-to-end corporate spend management solution Clara has secured US$70 million in a Series B equity financing round.

The round was led by Coatue, and takes Clara’s valuation to US$1 billion. With the Series B, Clara has become the fastest Latin American startup to obtain unicorn status in the region, a statement said. Clara was launched in Mexico eight months ago.

Participating investors in the round included ICONIQ Growth, Box Group, Gaingels, and existing investors DST, monashees, General Catalyst, Avid Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Picus Capital, and Alter Global, among others.

General Partner at Coatue Michael Gilroy will be joining Clara’s board as its first external member.

Further, along with the fundraising deal, the company also announced that it would be launching its solutions in Brazil. It is kickstarting its Brazil operations with a group of nearly 100 company clients, including the Brazilian operations of its existing customers.

In Mexico, the company will operate under its principal member license through an agreement with Mastercard. This allows it to issue credit cards directly, without relying on third parties or sponsor banks.

“Being able to operate with our own license backed by Mastercard in more than one country and in such a short time is the result of all the product decisions we have made over the past year since we started Clara.

 

With the new financing, we will continue to form the best team of engineers, designers, and product leaders so we can keep innovating,”

said Clara Co-founder and Head of Product Development, Diego García.

This article first appeared on Fintech News Switzerland.

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