哥伦比亚金融监管机构批准了墨西哥金融科技公司Kapital在该国开展银行业务所需的初步批准，使其在2022年通过企业贷款进入该市场后，进一步接近提供存款账户的目标。
Colombian financial regulators granted Mexican fintech Kapital the initial approvals needed to begin banking operations in the country, bringing the company closer to offering deposit accounts after expanding there with business lending in 2022.
该许可证将允许Kapital为企业提供更广泛的金融服务，包括储蓄和信贷产品，为公司提供更多管理现金和流动性的选择。
The license would allow Kapital to offer businesses a broader range of financial services, including savings and credit products, giving companies more options to manage their cash and liquidity.
Kapital首席执行官René Saúl在公司墨西哥城办公室接受采访时表示：“我们的策略在任何地方都是一样的：必须能够接受存款并加以利用。”
“Our strategy is the same everywhere: You have to be able to take deposits and leverage them,” Chief Executive Officer René Saúl said in an interview at the firm’s Mexico City offices.
Kapital已在墨西哥持有银行牌照，但仍需获得最后一次批准才能在哥伦比亚推出银行服务。
Kapital already holds a banking license in Mexico, and it still needs one final approval before it can launch banking services in Colombia.
Kapital还以3000万美元的现金加股票交易收购了总部位于硅谷、获得Y Combinator支持的人工智能初创公司Woz，增添约25名开发人员，标志着其在人工智能领域的投资以及在墨西哥和美国等关键市场的扩张。公司计划在未来一年继续扩大其位于旧金山的团队。
Kapital also acquired Silicon Valley-based, Y Combinator-backed artificial intelligence startup Woz in a $30 million cash-and-stock transaction, adding a team of about 25 developers as it invests in AI and expands in key markets including Mexico and the US. The company plans to continue growing its San Francisco-based team over the next year.
该许可证和收购建立在Kapital去年9月完成的1.25亿美元股权和债务融资基础上，公司计划利用这笔资金开发其人工智能平台，并支持国内外的扩张。
The license and the acquisition build on Kapital’s recent $125 million equity and debt raise in September, which the company plans to use to develop its AI platform and support its domestic and international expansion.
Saúl表示，中小企业“缺乏可视性，企业缺乏将所有金融工具集中于一处的灵活性”。“现在人工智能可以提供这种能力，这也是我计划继续在此类技术上进行大量投资的原因。”
Small and medium-sized businesses “lack visibility and enterprises lack agility to have all financial tools in one place,” Saúl said. “Now AI can give you this capacity, which is why I’m planning to keep investing significantly in this type of technology.”
Kapital于2020年在墨西哥城由Saúl和首席财务官Fernando Sandoval创立，为中小企业和大型企业提供与银行相关的服务，使其区别于更侧重零售消费者的墨西哥金融科技公司如Nu Holdings Ltd.、Mercado Pago和Plata。该集团服务约35万客户，估值20亿美元。
Founded in Mexico City in 2020 by Saúl and Chief Financial Officer Fernando Sandoval, Kapital provides banking-related services to small and medium-sized businesses and larger enterprises, setting it apart from Mexican fintechs such as Nu Holdings Ltd., Mercado Pago and Plata, which focus more heavily on retail consumers. The group serves about 350,000 clients and is valued at $2 billion.
Kapital 还表示已聘请律师，并正与银行洽谈，以探索潜在的首次公开募股，执行官称。虽然公司财务状况良好，但他表示仍需更多时间准备上市，并补充说必须加快增长，以达到上市所需的规模。“我们在未来几年内走在正确的道路上，准备上市，”他说。
Kapital has also said it hired lawyers and is in talks with banks as it explores a potential initial public offering, according to the executive. While the company is in a strong financial position, it needs more time to prepare for a listing, he said, adding that they must accelerate its growth to reach the scale needed to go public. “We’re on the correct path in the next couple of years, to IPO,” he said.