NEW YORK & QUITO — January 26, 2026 — Jelou, a Latin America-based fintech company, announced it has raised $10 million in Series A funding to expand its WhatsApp-based AI platform into the United States, targeting businesses and small-to-medium enterprises.
The company said its AI agents support transactional workflows inside messaging apps, including payment execution, bank account opening, and credit underwriting. Jelou reported that its system has processed more than $100 million in financial operations to date and has been deployed in regulated banking environments across Latin America.
The Series A round was led by Wellington Access Ventures, with participation from Krealo and Collide Capital, according to the company. Jelou said it has raised $13 million total, including a previously announced $3 million seed round led by Act One Ventures and Arca Continental Ventures.
Jelou’s product, called Brain, is positioned as a platform for building and operating AI agents that connect to existing business systems and complete transactions within WhatsApp conversations. The company said the platform includes a web-based studio with more than 3,000 integrations, as well as tools for managing high-volume conversations and overseeing workflows such as payments, credit processes, and document signing.
Luis Loaiza, Jelou’s CEO and founder, said the company is focused on enabling businesses to complete customer transactions within chat interfaces rather than redirecting users to external portals or apps.
Founded in Ecuador in 2017, Jelou said it serves more than 500 business customers across 13 countries, including banks and consumer-facing businesses. The company said the new funding will be used to scale its platform and further develop tools designed to support secure transaction execution through chat-based interfaces.
Jelou stated that its long-term plan is to expand Brain into a broader platform for building and managing WhatsApp-based business applications.
