Ábaco Fintech Secures US$53 Million to Expand SME Lending in Central America

Ábaco, a San Salvador-based fintech, announced the close of a US$53 million capital structure combining equity and institutional debt, making it the largest funding round recorded so far by a fintech in Central America. The transaction includes a US$50 million warehouse facility led by U.S. firm Accial Capital, alongside existing lender Pomona Impact, as well as a US$2.6 million Seed round backed by Impact Ventures PSM, Nazca Ventures, Alaya Capital, Caricaco Ventures, and Innogen Capital, among others.

Founded in 2023 by Salvadorans Alejandro McCormack, Carlos Villalobos, and Moisés Hasbún, Ábaco uses artificial intelligence, big data and automation to help small and medium-sized businesses transform unpaid invoices into working capital in less than 24 hours. Its proprietary credit engine analyzes thousands of data points in real time to approve financing without requiring traditional collateral, replacing the manual and paper-intensive processes that continue to dominate SME lending across the region.

Since launch, the company has raised more than US$60 million in total, surpassed US$100 million in originated credit, and completed more than 25,000 disbursements—one of the fastest growth trajectories for a Central American fintech.

Reinventing SME financing in Central America

The company is targeting one of the region's largest structural financing gaps. Many businesses across Central America operate with payment cycles of up to 120 days, creating liquidity constraints even for companies with healthy demand. By providing real-time credit approvals and same-day funding, Ábaco aims to help businesses maintain operations, pay suppliers, meet payroll and pursue new commercial opportunities without waiting months for invoices to be settled.

According to the company's latest impact survey, improved access to working capital has translated into measurable business growth. More than 80% of financed SMEs reported accelerating growth within 60 days, over 90% expanded their customer base, 97% negotiated better supplier terms, 69% increased hiring, and 92% reduced their financing costs.

"Our objective is to transform access to financing into a competitive advantage for thousands of SMEs across Central America," said co-founder Carlos Villalobos.

Market context

Ábaco's round stands out in a market where deals above US$50 million remain uncommon in Latin America outside Brazil and Mexico, two countries that have historically captured most of the region's venture capital.

According to Cuantico VP Brazil and Mexico represented 78.5% of all venture capital invested across Latin America in 2025. Fintech also remained the dominant investment category, attracting 61% of total invested capital despite accounting for only 29% of all deals, illustrating how the region's largest financings continue to concentrate around financial services.

Against that backdrop, Ábaco's transaction strengthens the argument that SME financing in Central America is evolving from a longstanding structural challenge into an investable, technology-driven market opportunity. TechCrunch has previously highlighted growing investor interest in fintech infrastructure supporting business lending across Latin America through companies such as Kala and Mono.

A financing structure designed for scale

Beyond its size, the transaction also represents a milestone in financial innovation.

The structure combines institutional private credit with venture capital while incorporating mechanisms enabled by El Salvador's Digital Asset Issuance Law (LEAD). According to the company, this makes the transaction one of the first globally to integrate tokenized components into its collateral and security framework, improving capital efficiency while creating a more scalable funding model for future lending.

The process received support from El Salvador's Ministry of Economy and INVEST El Salvador and was recognized by CAF's financial inclusion laboratory.

“This round is a signal that companies capable of attracting world-class institutional capital can be built from Central America to solve one of the region’s biggest challenges: access to financing for SMEs,” said Alejandro McCormack, CEO and co-founder of Ábaco.

Why institutional investors participated

For Accial Capital, the transaction reflects growing confidence in supply-chain finance as an underserved asset class across emerging markets.

"Supply-chain finance is exactly the type of underserved, high-impact segment we seek to support," said Jared Miller, CEO of Accial Capital.

He added that Ábaco combines deep local market expertise with proprietary credit technology and one of the first token-enabled collateral structures the firm has supported, positioning the company at the forefront of how private credit infrastructure is expected to evolve in emerging markets.

Since 2018, Accial Capital has supported more than US$4.5 billion in loans globally, including US$3.4 billion directed to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, reaching more than one million borrowers, over half of whom are women.

Regional Relevance

For the United States, the deal shows how U.S. private credit capital can flow into an emerging Latin American credit niche — in this case, small-business factoring — that has been slow to attract institutional financing outside Brazil and Mexico. It also reflects a broader trend toward cross-border, impact-oriented investment strategies, where funds seek market-rate returns in underserved credit markets.

For Latin America, the round validates El Salvador’s effort to position itself as a hub for fintech and digital asset innovation through LEAD, while addressing a persistent regional problem: inadequate access to formal financing for SMEs. If Ábaco successfully expands into Guatemala and Costa Rica, it could become a reference point for cross-border digital factoring in the isthmus.

What's next

With the new funding, Ábaco expects to originate more than US$350 million in financing over the near term and expand its reach to more than 10,000 SMEs.

The company also plans to strengthen its presence across El Salvador while accelerating regional expansion into Guatemala, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, positioning itself as one of the leading digital factoring platforms in Central America and the Caribbean.