Startup Mx: Moffin

Moffin is a leading data integration platform as a service (iPaaS) company that helps its customers digitize client screening and credit analysis.

In partnership with

Moffin is not a bakery, despite what the name might suggest. Instead, it aims to simplify access to credit data and streamline the lending process in Mexico.

This platform aggregates and organizes financial information from various sources, allowing businesses to make informed lending decisions with minimal friction.

“Our main goal was to create an easy-to-connect, easy-to-access way for companies to retrieve financial data.” - Santiago Aceves (Co-Founder and CEO of Moffin)

Moffins’ Inception Story

The journey to founding Moffin was far from straightforward. Santiago had previously worked as the head of product and growth at Skydropx before transitioning into fintech.

The inspiration for Moffin came from Santiago’s and Victor’s experiences in the fintech space, particularly while working at a previous startup where he noticed the inefficiencies in accessing and utilizing financial data.

Back then (2020) we saw that credit bureaus were incredibly difficult to connect with, and we knew that solving this issue would immediately provide value to businesses

Santiago Aceves

With this in mind, Santiago and his co-founder, Victor, set out to develop a simple API that would grant seamless access to credit data, eliminating bureaucratic barriers and increasing financial inclusion.

How does Moffin Work?

Moffin streamlines the process of evaluating customer credit profiles by automating the collection, analysis, and validation of financial data. Businesses can use Moffin to make informed decisions in moments through powerful digital tools and integrations.

Key Features and Capabilities

  • Data Integration: Integrate all the information about individuals and companies, including credit history reports, credit scores, RFC certificates, invoices, CURP, identity validations or any other information required for the screening process.

  • No-Code Inquiry Forms: Create custom data inquiry forms in seconds without the need for programming expertise, enabling massive data consultations efficiently.

  • Automated Credit Evaluations: Set up tailored assessments that analyze scores, payment compliance, balances, and detect fraud using blacklists. Results are generated within seconds.

  • REST API Integration: Build custom solutions by integrating Moffin’s services with existing systems through its API.

  • Data Sources and Validation Tools: Moffin pulls from multiple reliable sources:

  • Credit Bureau: Analyze credit lines, payment behavior, and fraud reports.

  • RFC Certificates: Access electronic signature statuses and linked emails from the SAT.

  • CURP Verification: Validate identity with information like name, birthdate, and sex.

  • Billing Compliance: Check tax status, compliance opinions, and issued invoices.

  • Blacklists: Detect suspicious entities for regulatory compliance.

Founders

Moffin Team

Moffins’ Network Effects and Customer Acquisition

Moffin’s customer acquisition strategy is mainly splited between inbound searches and referrals.

About 60% of our customers find us through Google searches when they are specifically looking for an API that seamlessly integrates with their systems, meaning that they already understand their need for a solution like ours.

Santiago Aceves

The remaining 40% come through referrals from existing customers and data providers who see Moffin as an essential integration partner.

“If you're an identity validation company, and one of your customers wants to connect with another data provider, they refer them to us because we essentially serve as the missing piece that enables all these different players to connect and exchange data more efficiently.” - Santiago Aceves

This network effect has been instrumental in Moffin’s expansion, enabling a more seamless adoption of its platform across financial institutions and fintech startups.

Funding, Scaling, and Data Challenges

We started wrong because, at the beginning, we were engaging with small funds that, while well-intentioned, simply didn't have the capacity to push us forward in the way we needed.

Santiago Aceves

The team initially had challenges in connecting with the right investors, but their first significant commitment came from Chile Ventures. Just before closing a $1 million round, Action Venture Lab joined, resonating with their vision and led to a $2.1 million raise, exceeding expectations.

Scaling has proven difficult due to a bureaucratic and slow-moving financial ecosystem.

“Many large companies prioritize stability over innovation, making it difficult to convince them to adopt new solutions.” - Santiago Aceves

Banks also demand costly ISO certifications, creating high entry barriers for smaller players.

Fraud and data reliability remain ongoing challenges. “Fraud within fraud makes verifying financial trustworthiness complicated,” explains Santiago. Moffin addresses this by aggregating data from multiple sources, tackling Latin America's fragmented financial ecosystem and setting a new benchmark for trust and efficiency.

Funding

Traction

Moffin is currently working with approximately 100 companies, helping them screen over 1.5 million entities while achieving double-digit MoM growth.

Growth Strategy: Mexico & Beyond

Looking ahead, Moffin aims to consolidate its presence in Mexico while exploring further opportunities.

The market here still holds so much untapped potential, and despite our progress, we are still in the early stages of expansion, with a primary focus on key metropolitan areas where financial activity is most concentrated.

Santiago Aceves

While the product itself is solid, growth efforts will center on better marketing and distribution. “Up until now, we have spent absolutely nothing on marketing—not a single ad, not even a basic social media post—so as we shift our attention toward brand awareness, we have a major opportunity to reach a broader audience and strengthen our position,” he admits.

Currently, Moffin operates with a lean team of 15 people, including nine in tech and six in operations.

“We’ve been incredibly efficient so far, but as our platform gains more traction, it’s becoming increasingly clear that we need to establish a stronger presence, both in terms of marketing and customer engagement.” - Santiago Aceves

The ultimate goal is to establish Moffin as the data platform for building trust between entities across Latin America.

Moffins’ Roadmap

Moffin started with a simple yet powerful idea: make credit data more accessible. But as Santiago points out,

We quickly realized that just getting data from credit bureaus wasn’t enough. We needed to build a more comprehensive system that included multiple data sources, enabling companies to get a full picture of financial risk and identity validation rather than just relying on a single, often outdated, source of information.

Santiago Aceves

This realization led the team to develop an expansive infrastructure that allows financial institutions to validate identities, analyze credit risk, and streamline the lending process.

“We are not just aggregating data—we are structuring it in a way that makes sense, that makes it actionable for businesses. Our vision is to become the backbone of financial validation processes, ensuring that companies, whether they are fintech startups, traditional banks, or even non-financial entities, can trust the data they are working with,” Santiago explained to VC Mexico.

Moving forward, Moffin aims to expand its offerings by enhancing its data orchestration capabilities.

“Imagine a system that connects multiple data providers and ensures reliability across all of them. That’s where we’re heading,” Santiago emphasizes. The goal is to create a robust middleware solution that not only provides credit data, but also transforms raw financial information into meaningful, actionable insights.

Over the next 12 to 24 months, Moffin plans to strengthen its presence in the Mexican market while exploring opportunities for expansion into other Latin American countries.

Financial inclusion is a huge challenge in emerging markets, and we believe our technology can make a real difference by making financial data more structured, more accessible, and ultimately more useful for businesses looking to grow.

Santiago Aceves

Market Opportunity

The fintech landscape in Mexico and Latin America presents significant opportunities for companies like Moffin. As of 2024, Mexico's fintech ecosystem comprises 773 local businesses, reflecting an 18.9% growth since 2022. This expansion underscores a robust market trajectory.

The Mexican fintech market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.20% from 2024 to 2032, driven by increasing digital penetration and a rising demand for accessible financial services.

Furthermore, during the second quarter of 2024, approximately 21 trillion Mexican pesos were transferred through online banking in Mexico, indicating a growing adoption of digital financial platforms.

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