Pomelo

Pomelo is a Latin America–based payments infrastructure company that provides card issuing, issuer processing and card program management to banks, fintechs and large enterprises. Its platform is described as modular, API-first and cloud-native, with artificial intelligence applied across integration and day-to-day operations, and with direct connections to Mastercard and Visa. Clients can configure card programs across user type (individual, corporate, primary or additional cardholder), product (credit, debit, prepaid, multicurrency, multiapp), format (physical, virtual, digital), scope (local or global) and network (Visa, Mastercard or local networks).

The product is organized as modules that clients activate as needed: Issuing (card issuance, tokenization, printing and logistics), Processing (real-time processing, credit core, portfolio migration), Network Management (BIN sponsorship, chargeback management), Risk Management (a risk platform, FICO Falcon Fraud Manager, 3DS, dynamic CVV) and the AI-powered Pomelo Dashboard for program operation and monitoring. Published use cases include processor replacement, regional expansion, crypto wallet on/off ramps, co-branded and corporate cards, investment-platform cards, stablecoin payments with conversion to fiat at purchase, instant funding, remittances, rewards programs, global cards, single-use cards for OTA and agentic payments, traditional banking modernization and neobank launches.

With the January 2026 Series C, the company stated it would extend beyond card issuing into globally scalable products — including a stablecoin-native global card, payment tokenization and AI-powered chargeback management — and into new payment rails and business units, while continuing to strengthen its issuing and credit card solutions across Latin America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Founding story

Pomelo was founded in 2021 by Gastón Irigoyen (CEO), Hernán Corral (CPO) and Juan Fantoni (CCO), with the initial aim of giving fintechs and embedded finance players a way to launch virtual accounts and issue prepaid and credit cards with compliant onboarding. Irigoyen was previously CEO of Naranja X and held leadership roles at Google; Corral led Cards & Digital Accounts at Mercado Pago; Fantoni led fintech partnerships at Mastercard. The three are Endeavor Entrepreneurs recognized by the World Economic Forum.

Business model

Pomelo sells card-program infrastructure to businesses that want to issue cards without building or maintaining legacy processing systems. Clients integrate via APIs and enable the modules they need — issuing, real-time processing, credit core, tokenization, printing and logistics, BIN sponsorship, chargeback management, risk and fraud tools, and a management dashboard. Through Issuer Processing and BIN Sponsorship, clients can issue either on Pomelo's network licenses or on their own. One client publicly described the commercial model as flexible with mostly variable costs.

Revenue derives from providing card issuing, processing and program management infrastructure to corporate clients, including a SaaS platform for managing an entire credit card business, with pricing that a client described as largely variable-cost based. Company statements cite revenue growth of 3x in 2023 versus 2022 and more than 250% over the two years preceding January 2026.

Traction

As of January 2024, Pomelo reported over 100 corporate clients, 265 employees, revenue growth of 3x in 2023, seven-fold growth in total payments volume in 2023, and capacity of 55 million transactions per day. By January 2026 it reported more than 150 customers, revenue growth of more than 250% over two years, processing of billions of dollars in payment volume, and what the company described as best-in-class retention and customer satisfaction. Client Stori reported issuing more than 2.8 million cards in Mexico using Pomelo.

Latest developments

In January 2026 Pomelo announced a $55 million Series C co-led by Kaszek and Insight Partners with participation from Index Ventures, Adams Street Partners, S32, Endeavor Catalyst, monashees and TQ Ventures, bringing total funding to $160 million. The company said it serves more than 150 customers, processes billions of dollars in payment volume, and grew revenue more than 250% over the prior two years. Planned 2026 priorities are strengthening the core issuing platform, launching new payment rails, and building a global product portfolio including a stablecoin-native global card, payment tokenization and AI-powered chargeback management. For Adams Street Partners, the round was its first growth equity investment in the region.