Paradigm leads $9M Series A in El Dorado
What's the deal? Paradigm has led a $9 million Series A round in El Dorado, a Latin American cross-border payments app. Coinbase Ventures and Verda VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → also participated.
El Dorado was founded in 2022 by Latin American immigrants who experienced cross-border payment friction firsthand. It now operates in 12 countries, has over 100,000 active users, and has processed more than 5 million transactions.
Why now? Cross-border payments in Latin America represent a massive, underserved market. El Dorado co-founder and chief executive officer Guillermo Goncalvez estimates the region's cross-border payment volume at close to $1 trillion per year — yet it still lacks effective payment rails.
"About 60% of that is actually purely B2B cross-border payments, so mostly imports and exports," Goncalvez told The Block.
El Dorado is targeting internal corridors that larger fintechs ignore. One of its biggest payment corridors today runs between Brazil and Bolivia — a route that companies like Nubank and Wise largely overlook, along with nations like Paraguay, Ecuador, and Peru.
The company has also launched a business unit to help Latin American firms execute cross-border payments and multinational companies enter the region. It has onboarded over 100 business clients, with the main use case being electric vehicle imports from China.
What could go wrong? Operating across 12 countries means navigating a patchwork of regulatory regimes, currency controls, and compliance requirements. Several Latin American nations have volatile currencies and shifting political landscapes that could complicate expansion.
Competition is another factor. While El Dorado targets underserved corridors now, larger fintechs could move into those markets as they grow.
The signal: With Paradigm acting as both lead investor and incubator of the TempoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → blockchain that underpins El Dorado's business payments, this round is as much an infrastructure play as a fintech bet. Coinbase Ventures' participation — alongside a corporate backer and two investment funds — underscores growing conviction that stablecoin-powered rails can capture real volume in Latin America's fragmented, trillion-dollar cross-border market. Dealroom classifies El Dorado as a "breakout stage" company, suggesting this Series A could mark an inflection point as it shifts from consumer traction to enterprise adoption.
Read more: The Block
