mina Mexico-based employee wellness company, has secured $30 million in new funding as it continues to build out its gamified and rewards features, including courses for saving or completing financial education, while improving retention for employers.
Company co-founder and CEO Nima Pourshasb told londonbusinessblog.com that 80% of Mexicans live paycheck to paycheck without saving, while a third often have to take out loans to cover basic recurring expenses.
Minu’s financial apps and wellness apps for employees Image Credits: min
“The pandemic was a big part of the more humanistic approach to caring for workers,” Pourshasb said. “We saw a market shift toward employee well-being and the use of technology to improve quality of life – the financial, physical and mental health of employees.”
He also explained that Mexico’s regulations helped: The country passed legislation known as Name 35that requires companies to monitor their employees’ stress and has mechanisms in place to help them.
“The main source of stress is often financial, so that was a really big driver,” Pourshasb added.
The new capital is a combination of $10 million in a bridging round from Coppel Capital, Besant Capital and Enea Capital, as well as existing investors FinTech Collective, QED and Salkantay, and $20 million in debt from Accial Capital. In total, Minu raised $50 million.
Pourshasb declined to disclose Minu’s valuation, but said the company has a 22-month maturity with the new funds.
In 2021, my colleague Mary Ann Azevedo profiled Minu as it raised $14 million in Series A funding. At the time, the pay-on-demand company founded by Pourshasb, Rafael Niell and Paolo Rizzi worked with 100 corporate clients and had only one product, Earned Wage Access, which provides instant access to employees’ earnings for a fixed withdrawal. of $2 fee.
Nearly two years later, Minu has more than 300 corporate clients, such as Grupo Modelo, Coppel and Cinemex, and sales grew more than five times between 2021 and 2022.
Also new is a SaaS subscription model where half of revenue is now generated, paid for by employees, making it free for employees to take advantage of the now more than 30 benefits, including access to health and mental health via telemedicine, insurance discounts, financial education, bill payment and virtual fitness classes.
In addition, Minu has a new credit union-as-a-service that allows employers to offer savings as low as 8% for fully liquid deposits and low-cost flexible loans. That compares to the 400% annual rate for a loan from a traditional Mexican bank.
Employees who use the financial education or fitness and brokerage content can receive rewards such as higher savings rates and life insurance amounts.
Meanwhile, the company plans to use the new capital to continue distribution to customers and further develop its employee wellness platform to include more modules for human resources and chief financial officers. Minu will continue its focus on Mexico and expand to Monterrey, Guadalajara and Yucatan.
“Mexico is where we see tremendous opportunity,” Pourshasb said. “The biggest opportunity for us is to continue to expand geographically within Mexico with companies of all sizes, continuing to take advantage of the tremendous inertia and positioning we have in the market.”