Bold

What Bold does

Bold is a Colombian fintech founded in 2019 that operates a vertically integrated payments and banking platform primarily serving micro, small, and medium-sized merchants in Colombia. The product stack combines proprietary point-of-sale hardware (datáfonos: Neo, Plus, Smart, Smart Pro), online payment gateway services (Pasarela, Link de pago, Botón de pagos, QR Bold, SonoQR), and embedded banking services (Cuenta Digital, Bolsillos, CDT, Tarjeta débito/crédito, Cupo credit line). Banking and credit products are operated through a regulated financial entity, Bold CF Compañía de Financiamiento S.A., supervised by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia, while Bold.Co S.A.S. operates as its digital correspondent. Distribution is omnichannel: self-serve mobile/web onboarding, inside-sales via WhatsApp for higher-volume merchants (>20M COP/month), retail distribution of hardware through Homecenter, Panamericana, Mercadolibre, and Olímpica, plus developer-facing APIs (API Link de pagos, API Pagos en línea) for platform integration.

The business model blends five revenue streams: one-time hardware sales (datáfonos at COP $79,000-$399,000), transaction processing fees on 6.5M+ monthly card-present and card-not-present transactions, net interest margin on customer deposits (Bolsillos at 9% E.A., CDT up to 12% E.A.), interest income from the working-capital Cupo Bold credit line launched in March 2025, and POS/SaaS subscription fees covering inventory and electronic invoicing. As of early 2026, Bold reported serving 600,000+ businesses, processing 6.5M+ transactions and over 1 trillion COP in annual gross merchant sales volume, supported by 1,001-5,000 employees. The company has raised approximately $150 million in cumulative disclosed funding across rounds led by Tiger Global Management (Series B, February 2022) and General Atlantic (Series C February 2024 and a $40M follow-on in Q4 2025), with participation from IFC, InQLab, Amador Holdings, Cóndor Inverlink, and others. Stated use of proceeds across rounds emphasizes product development, merchant-base expansion, and Latin American geographic expansion beyond Colombia.

Recent strategic activity includes two acquisitions (Tuily in December 2024 and VendeMás in September 2025), an SME product expansion announced in November 2024, and multiple product launches in 2025 including SonoQR (voice-confirmed QR payments), Tienda en línea (hosted online storefront), and the Cupo Bold revolving credit facility. Bold is headquartered in Bogotá, Colombia, and the company operates under co-founder/CEO José Fernando Velez, with co-founders Enríque Ramírez (CFO), Jorge Ulloa (CPTO), and Ana María Sandoval (COO) listed in the leadership team.

Name

Bold

Legal name

Bold.Co S.A.S.

Website

https://bold.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Bold is a Colombian fintech providing vertically integrated payments, banking, and credit products to 600,000+ micro and SMB merchants through proprietary datáfono hardware, payment gateways, and the regulated Bold CF digital banking platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bogotá

HQ country

Colombia

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Hardware sales (datáfonos): One-time unit sales of proprietary POS hardware at fixed price points: Neo $79,000 COP; Plus $149,000 COP; Smart $299,000 COP; Smart Pro $399,000 COP (with SIM +$60,000). Hardware is also distributed through retail partners (Homecenter, Panamericana, Mercadolibre, Olimpica) and own e-commerce (checkout.tienda.bold.co).
2. Payment processing / transaction fees: Interchange and processing fees on card-present (datáfono) and card-not-present (link/button/API/QR) transactions across 6.5M+ monthly transactions processing >1B COP in merchant sales volume.
3. Embedded banking spread & interest income (Cuenta Digital, Bolsillos, CDT): Float and net interest margin on merchant and consumer deposits held in Bold's digital accounts. Bolsillos yield 9% E.A. and CDT up to 12% E.A., paid to customers; Bold retains the spread versus its funding cost. Bold CF is a regulated financing company (Compañía de Financiamiento) supervised by Superintendencia Financiera.
4. Credit / Cupo Bold interest income: Working-capital credit line ('Cupo Bold') for merchants, repayable at the rhythm of their sales — interest and fees on drawn balances generate recurring credit yield.
5. POS / SaaS subscription: Subscription/usage-based fees for the integrated POS system covering sales tracking, inventory management, and electronic invoicing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion5 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Bold is a vertically integrated Colombian fintech that provides merchants with low-cost POS hardware (datáfonos), online payment acceptance (payment gateway, payment links, buttons, QR, APIs), and an embedded digital banking stack (free Cuenta Digital, interest-bearing Bolsillos savings, CDT, working-capital Cupo Bold credit line). All offerings are operated through a single mobile/web app and serve both SMB merchants (Bold para negocios) and individual consumers (Bold para personas) in Colombia.

Product overview

Bold operates as a vertically integrated fintech platform with two main business units — Bold (payments/merchant acquiring) and Bold CF (a regulated financial services company, Compañía de Financiamiento). The offering is best described as a platform-plus-modules architecture: a core payments infrastructure (datáfonos hardware, Pasarela de pagos gateway, Link de pago, Botón de pagos, QR Bold, and SonoQR) on top of which a suite of banking and merchant services modules is layered, including Cuenta Digital, Bolsillos, CDT, Tarjeta débito, Tarjeta crédito, Créditos (Cupo), Facturación electrónica, POS, and Tienda en línea. Developer-facing APIs (API Link de pagos, API Pagos en línea) extend the payment rails for partner integration. All products are served through a single mobile app and merchant panel at panel.bold.co.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bold CF: Bold's regulated Colombian financial services line (Cuenta Bold, Tarjeta de crédito, QR Bold, Bolsillos, CDT) operated via Bold CF Compañía de Financiamiento S.A., with Bold.Co S.A.S. acting as digital correspondent.
• Bold Pagos
• SonoQR
• Boldbot

Products and services

• Datáfonos (Card Reader Terminals)

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• Homecenter Sodimac CoronacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLists Bold datáfonos as an authorized retail channel — physical retail distribution point in Colombia for Bold POS hardware.
• PanamericanaminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized retail seller of Bold datáfonos in Colombia.
• OlímpicaminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized retail seller of Bold datáfonos in Colombia.
• Bold CF Compañía de Financiamiento S.A. (regulated affiliate)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerBold.Co S.A.S. operates as a 'corresponsal digital' (digital correspondent) of Bold CF Compañía de Financiamiento S.A. — Bold CF is the regulated entity supervised by Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia that holds deposits, issues CDTs, and extends credit used by the Bold platform.
• PG Abogados Asociados S.A.S.minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAppointed Defensor del Consumidor Financiero for Bold CF, providing mandatory consumer-complaint mediation services for Bold's regulated financial products (Cuenta Digital, CDT, Créditos).
• Apple App Store / Google Play / Huawei AppGallerycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorBold's mobile app is distributed through all three major app stores — direct app-install distribution channel for end users.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Clip: Clip is a Mexican SMB-focused payments company offering proprietary card readers and a digital account for micro and small merchants — a close functional analogue to Bold's datáfono + Cuenta Digital stack and a likely model for Bold's LatAm expansion beyond Colombia.
• SumUp: SumUp is a global SMB POS and payment-acceptance provider operating across Latin America with low-cost card readers and integrated online acceptance — competing head-to-head with Bold on datáfono pricing, processing rates, and merchant onboarding for cash-heavy SMBs.
• Mercado Pago: Mercado Pago is Mercado Libre's fintech arm offering payments, POS, credit, and digital accounts across Latin America — directly competing with Bold for SMB merchant acquiring, online checkout, and embedded credit/deposits in Colombia and the broader region.
• Daviplata: Daviplata is Davivienda's mobile wallet offering digital accounts, payments, and QR acceptance across Colombia — competing with Bold Personas on free digital accounts and with Bold's QR/SonoQR product on merchant payment acceptance.
• Nequi: Nequi is Bancolombia's digital wallet and account platform serving Colombian consumers and merchants with payments, transfers, and digital banking — directly overlapping with Bold Personas' Cuenta Digital, Bolsillos, and QR payment acceptance in the Colombian market.
• Kushki: Kushki is a LatAm payment infrastructure company providing online checkout, payment links, and APIs across multiple countries including Colombia — overlapping with Bold's Pasarela, Link de pago, Botón de pagos, and API products in the same merchant and developer segments.

Broad incumbents

• Block (Square): Block's Square is the global SMB POS and payments platform with proprietary hardware and software, integrated banking, and merchant lending — a benchmark for the vertically integrated payments + banking + credit model Bold is building in Colombia at a much smaller scale.
• dLocal: dLocal is a LatAm-focused cross-border payments platform enabling global merchants to accept payments in emerging markets — comparable to Bold as a high-growth LatAm fintech with Colombia exposure, but focused on enterprise/cross-border flows rather than SMB acquiring.
• PayU: PayU (Prosus/Naspers) is a global payment gateway with deep LatAm presence including Colombia, serving merchants with online processing, payment links, and developer APIs — a broader incumbent competitor to Bold's gateway and online payments products rather than a datáfono rival.

Regional players

• Stone Co. Stone Co. is a Brazilian SMB payments and banking platform offering proprietary POS terminals, acquiring, software, and credit — a regional LatAm peer illustrating the scaled SMB-payments-plus-embedded-finance model Bold aspires to replicate in Colombia and beyond.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC53BgFWNZGvNs6Pt0YzYT9A
• Facebookfacebook.com/somosbold.co
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/boldteam
• Instagraminstagram.com/somosbold.co
• Xx.com/bold

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors16 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bold