Cipriano Echavarría, a Morgan Stanley alum who later helped launch Nubank in Colombia, has raised $10 million in Series A funding for Palomma, his Medellín-based fintech serving landlords, tenants and property managers. Mexican venture firm Cometa led the round. Total funding for Palomma now stands at $14 million, including $4 million in previously undisclosed seed funding from Y Combinator, 17Sigma, Nido Ventures and Norte Ventures, plus Series A participants Volpe Capital, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Tekton Ventures, Simma Capital and Yango Ventures.
Palomma processes about $130 million in monthly rental payments across Colombia, serving over 200,000 tenants through roughly 500 property managers. The company's annual recurring revenue grew thirtyfold in 18 months to about $3 million.
The startup combines AI-powered software for property managers with a rent payment processor and financial products. Property managers use Palomma's leasing agent, which communicates via WhatsApp and can approve rental guarantee applicants in under 30 seconds. Tenants access Palomma Plus for credit-building rewards, while landlords use Palomma Advance to collect up to 12 months of future rental income upfront. Palomma Protect covers landlords if tenants default. The company is developing Palomma Flex to let tenants split rent into two installments.
Palomma achieved net revenue retention of 390% after 12 months. Echavarría said the company operates with just 18 employees and plans to expand within Colombia before considering Mexico, Brazil and the U.S. Spanish-speaking market. He noted that building scale in Latin America requires a broader product suite than in the U.S. market.
Pepe Bolaños, managing partner at Cometa, said Palomma's competitive advantage comes from combining payment distribution, proprietary payment data and AI. He highlighted that Colombia alone has nearly 8 million renting households and called Echavarría's execution "unusual" given the company's growth to this scale in 18 months with a small team.