Alza, a fintech backed by Thrive Capital, has shut down. The Alza website site was offline Monday, and instead displayed the following message: “Alza is thankful for the opportunity to build access to financial products and tools. If you have any questions about your Alza account to date, please contact us at alza@increase.com.”
Arturo Villanueva, a former Stripe executive, founded Alza in 2021 to bring financial services to Latinos living in the U.S. Alza, of New York, provided an FDIC-insured checking account, debit card, peer-to-peer payments and cross border remittance to over 20 Latin American countries.
Villaneuva, who moved to the U.S. from Mexico as a child, launched Alza after witnessing the predatory financial services that immigrants endure in the U.S., The Latin Times reported in 2023.
Alza raised $6.6 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. Investors included Thrive Capital, Rappi co-founder Sebastian Mejia and BoxGroup. Thrive, Mejia and BoxGroup did not immediately return messages for comment.
“Right before the holidays, we dissolved Alza, the company I started 3 years ago designed to bring financial services to the growing U.S. Spanish-speaking population,” CEO Villanueva said in a post on LinkedIn Monday.
Villaneuva, who also could not be reached for comment, did not provide a reason for Alza’s dissolution.
Alza is the latest fintech to cease operations. Bench, an accounting startup, shut down in December and was then saved, after agreeing on Dec. 30 to sell to Employer.com. Level, a benefits startup, shut down earlier this month after a sale fell through, The Information reported. Employer.com then offered to buy Level for $30 million one week after offering to buy Bench, TechCrunch said. Employer.com could not immediately be reached for comment.
