Kleva secures US$1.55M with Wollef Ventures, to scale AI-powered debt collection across LatAm

Kleva is stepping into one of the most overlooked segments of the financial value chain. The Mexican startup has secured a US$1.55 million seed round to scale its AI-powered agents designed to automate and optimize debt collection processes for banks, lenders, and fintechs across Latin America.

AI agents targeting a structural bottleneck in lending

Founded by Ed Escobar and Juan Martín Pagella, Kleva is building automated agents capable of executing end-to-end collection workflows. These systems can place calls, engage with debtors, and negotiate repayment terms autonomously, replicating the work traditionally handled by contact centers, but with greater efficiency and scalability.

The company highlights the impact of its technology: “Our platform can increase debt recovery rates by up to 25%, while reducing operational costs by as much as 70%.”

This dual effect positions Kleva as a solution not only for cost optimization but also for improving overall portfolio performance.

A massive market with outdated infrastructure

Kleva is addressing a deeply rooted inefficiency in the region. Each year, more than US$2.5 trillion in credit is issued across Latin America, yet debt collection infrastructure remains largely manual, fragmented, and inefficient.

This gap affects financial institutions on multiple levels. Beyond reducing profitability, it constrains their ability to expand access to credit sustainably, especially among underserved segments. In this context, AI-driven automation, particularly through conversational agents with negotiation capabilities, is emerging as a key lever for transforming financial back-office operations.

Backed by investors betting on AI in finance

The seed round was supported by Wollef Ventures, Nascent, Kuiper VC, and Lerer Hippeau, signaling strong investor confidence in AI applications targeting critical financial workflows.

With the newly raised capital, Kleva plans to enhance its technology, expand its client base, and strengthen its footprint across Latin America.

Reinventing the “last mile” of credit

While innovation in lending has largely focused on origination and credit scoring, debt collection remains one of the least digitized stages of the credit lifecycle.

Kleva’s approach is centered precisely on this “last mile”—bringing efficiency, scalability, and consistency to a process historically dependent on manual labor, high operational costs, and variable outcomes.

As financial institutions increasingly prioritize operational efficiency to sustain profitability, solutions like Kleva’s could play a defining role in reshaping how non-performing loans are managed across the region.