Valiu

Valiu was a fintech company established in 2018 by co-founders Simón Chamorro, David Barinas, and Alberto Niego. The firm was headquartered in Bogotá, Colombia, and participated in the Summer 2019 batch of the Y Combinator accelerator program. The founding team's personal experiences with the economic crisis in Venezuela, their native country, directly shaped the company's mission. Chamorro, the CEO, had a background in industrial design and product management at other Latin American startups like Chiper and Liftit.co before starting Valiu.

The company's primary focus was to address the financial challenges faced by individuals and businesses in Latin American economies experiencing high inflation and currency depreciation. It initially targeted Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, offering a platform for cross-border remittances. The business model was designed to be faster and more affordable than traditional services by leveraging cryptocurrency as an intermediary for transactions. Users could send money via cash, debit, or credit, which Valiu would convert to crypto and then to the local fiat currency in Venezuela, depositing it into the recipient's bank account within hours. This process aimed to protect the value of the remittance from hyperinflation during transit.

Valiu's core service was a digital remittance platform that did not require the sender to have a bank account. Senders could deposit cash through a network of over 20,000 partner locations, making the service accessible to unbanked individuals. In December 2020, the company announced a seed funding round of $5.25 million, with plans to expand its services. This expansion included offering US dollar-denominated accounts through a Bitcoin-backed synthetic dollar, referred to as a 'cryptodollar', to help users save and transact in a stable currency. The firm's long-term vision was to build a suite of financial products, including payments and credit, specifically for migrant populations. Despite its early traction and funding, Y Combinator's directory now lists the company as inactive.

Keywords: cross-border payments, remittance platform, Latin America fintech, Venezuelan migrants, cryptocurrency remittance, stablecoin, financial inclusion, unbanked services, Y Combinator alumni, digital dollar, hyperinflation solution, mobile banking, fiat-to-crypto, Bogotá startup, Simón Chamorro, emerging economies, peer-to-peer payments, cash-based remittance, financial services for migrants