Why We Invested: Malga
Orchestrating the Future of Payments in Latin America
The rise of digital payments has unlocked tremendous opportunities for businesses to scale, reach global markets, and provide seamless customer experiences. However, payment processing remains a critical bottleneck for companies operating in Latin America. Businesses lose over $100 billion annually due to transaction failures, fraud, and complex payment integrations1. Companies struggle with lost revenue and customer churn in a region where one in four card transactions is declined—double the failure rate seen in the US and Europe. Payment systems are fragmented, fraud prevention mechanisms often block legitimate transactions, and merchants face long, costly integration processes just to access multiple payment providers.
For businesses looking to scale, these challenges present a critical barrier to growth and customer retention. As digital commerce in Latin America continues to grow at an annual rate of 20%2, the demand for a smarter, more efficient payment infrastructure is pressing. Businesses need a flexible, high-performing solution that improves approval rates, reduces costs, and enhances the payment experience for customers.
Enter Malga – a next-generation payment orchestrator that enables businesses to seamlessly integrate multiple payment providers while intelligently routing transactions to optimize approval rates and reduce costs. Unlike traditional gateways or outdated payment service providers (PSPs), Malga’s low-code/no-code platform provides an agile, fully decoupled infrastructure, allowing merchants to dynamically select the best provider for each transaction without being locked into a single system.
Malga automatically directs transactions to the most efficient processor, significantly reducing declines and boosting approval rates. Businesses can connect to multiple payment processors via a single, modern API, eliminating months of costly integrations. The Company provides real-time transaction insights, fraud detection, and data-driven decision-making to optimize performance. Unlike competitors, Malga’s platform is fully customizable to fit the unique needs of enterprise clients.
With 61 enterprise clients already processing over $600 million annually through Malga, the company has proven its ability to drive tangible results. Businesses that switch to Malga reduce payment failures, increase revenue, and optimize operational efficiency, making Malga a mission-critical partner in the Latin American payments ecosystem.
Malga is not just solving a problem; it is reshaping how businesses manage payments in Latin America. The company’s unique approach allows businesses to escape vendor lock-in, reduce friction, and improve financial performance with a more intelligent and flexible payment system.
With over 7.2 million enterprise businesses in Latin America3, Malga is addressing a $150 billion-plus market that continues to expand. Unlike legacy players that struggle with outdated systems and competitors that only provide basic integration layers, Malga delivers deep payment orchestration capabilities, a feature-rich platform, advanced data insights, and a comprehensive suite of services, including split payments, reconciliation, and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL). Malga has a high-margin, recurring revenue model with strong unit economics, demonstrating its efficiency and ability to scale profitably.
At IGNIA, we are committed to partnering with exceptional companies built by exceptional founders. Malga’s leadership team has the perfect mix of payments industry expertise, operational excellence, and startup execution to take the company to the next level.
CEO Alex Vilhena is a former executive at Braintree and PayPal, Alex has over 15 years of experience helping companies scale payment infrastructures across multiple continents. His deep knowledge of the payments space enables Malga to stay ahead of market trends and technological advancements. COO Thiago Garuti is a seasoned entrepreneur with a successful exit, Thiago previously co-founded Medicinae Solutions, a fintech focused on receivables management, which was acquired in 2020. His experience in scaling financial services businesses is a huge asset to Malga.
This experienced and visionary team has demonstrated strong execution, product innovation, and a deep understanding of LatAm’s payments landscape. Their ability to navigate the complexity of the region’s financial ecosystem positions Malga as a category-defining company in payments orchestration.
IGNIA is thrilled to join Costanoa Ventures, Citrino Ventures, Gaingels, Norte Ventures, Y Combinator, and QED Investors in Malga’s $5M Series A round (link to announcement here). We see tremendous potential in Malga’s ability to transform payments in Latin America, helping businesses seamlessly integrate, optimize, and scale their payment operations. As digital commerce and fintech adoption continue to accelerate across Latin America, we believe Malga will become the go-to payments infrastructure provider for enterprises in the region.
We’re excited to partner with Alex, Thiago, and the entire Malga team as they build the future of payments. Congratulations on the latest fundraise!
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