Paradigm backs $9 million raise for LatAm payments startup El Dorado

Colombia-based El Dorado has secured $9 million in Series A funding led by Paradigm to accelerate the company’s mission of building modern cross-border payment infrastructure for Latin America, according to The Block. The round was also backed by Coinbase Ventures and Verda Ventures.

Founded in 2022, El Dorado has developed a payments platform designed to serve both consumers and businesses moving money across borders. The company has grown to more than 100,000 active users and processed over 5 million transactions, establishing a presence across several underserved markets in the region.

Management believes some of the strongest growth opportunities exist in intra-regional payment corridors that receive limited attention from larger global fintech firms. El Dorado has built its strategy around serving countries such as Bolivia, Paraguay, Ecuador, and Peru while facilitating transactions between neighboring economies.

Powered by Tempo, the layer 1 blockchain incubated by Paradigm and Stripe, the platform is designed to simplify international business transactions while expanding access to financial services across Latin America. El Dorado currently operates in 12 countries and plans to use the new funding to scale its products, infrastructure, and regional footprint.

The new financing follows a series of earlier fundraising milestones for El Dorado. In May 2024, the company raised $3 million in seed funding from investors including Multicoin Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Berkeley SkyDeck Fund.

Before that, it secured $450,000 in pre-seed capital through UC Berkeley’s SkyDeck accelerator program.