Ex-Nubank Exec Secures $14M for Colombian Proptech Palomma

While working at Morgan Stanley in New York back in 2020, Cipriano Echavarría spotted a desk plaque bearing the name of David Vélez, a fellow native of Medellín, Colombia, and the creator of the Brazilian digital bank Nubank. Echavarría captured a photo of the plaque and connected with Vélez via LinkedIn to seek career guidance.

That outreach led to an employment opportunity: Nubank was preparing to announce its Colombian expansion and assemble a local launch team. Echavarría returned to his home country by late 2020 to join the effort, carrying a long-term goal of launching a venture of his own.

Today, Echavarría’s Medellín-based startup, Palomma, has secured $10 million in a Series A funding round led by Mexican venture capital firm Cometa to scale its financial services offerings for property managers, landlords, and tenants, as reported exclusively by Crunchbase News.

According to co-founder and CEO Echavarría, the latest round brings Palomma’s total capital raised to $14 million, which includes $4 million in previously undisclosed backing. Contributors to the financing comprise Volpe Capital, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Tekton Ventures, Simma Capital, and Yango Ventures, alongside returning backers Y Combinator, 17Sigma, Nido Ventures, and Norte Ventures.

Palomma reports that its annual recurring revenue has multiplied thirtyfold over an 18-month span to approximately $3 million. The platform processes roughly $130 million in monthly rental transactions, catering to over 200,000 renters via more than 500 property managers across Colombia, representing an estimated $1.5 billion in annualized rent payment volume.

The enterprise plans to deploy the capital to deepen its footprint in Colombia, build out new AI and financial offerings, and gear up for international expansion. Potential future markets include Mexico, Brazil, and the Spanish-speaking U.S. segment, though Echavarría emphasized that Colombia remains the primary focus.

“We want to win Colombia,” he noted during an interview.

Finding a business in rent payments

Palomma merges administrative software—which assists property managers with leasing inquiries, client support, and collections—with a payment infrastructure tailored for gathering rent and disbursing funds to landlords. These core interactions enable the company to cross-sell financial products, rental guarantees, and other services to property owners and occupants.

Following nearly two years at Nubank, Echavarría established Palomma alongside Felipe Monsalve and Nicolás Gómez del Campo, both MIT-trained engineers with professional backgrounds at Meta, Cobre, and JP Morgan. The entrepreneurial team entered Y Combinator in January 2023 with the objective of developing an account-to-account payment network for Spanish-speaking Latin America. While initial growth remained stagnant during the first year, Echavarría explained, property managers soon began requesting assistance with rent collection.

Operational friction quickly became evident on both sides of the rental equation. Tenants typically owed rent at the beginning of the month but received income via biweekly paychecks. Concurrently, landlords relied on rental revenue yet faced difficulties borrowing against it or safeguarding their income if occupants defaulted. Furthermore, property managers managed collections and payouts via manual, labor-intensive workflows, Echavarría stated.

Rather than acquiring individual tenants and landlords directly, Palomma opted to scale through the entities overseeing the properties.

The leadership team resolved to “use the property managers as a distribution channel,” Echavarría recounted.

From software to financial services

Property managers utilize Palomma’s AI-powered software to manage responsibilities such as prospective tenant communications. The system subsequently integrates rent processing capabilities, supplying the startup with verified data regarding rental earnings and payment performance. This data stream is then leveraged to evaluate applicants for financial products.

From there, Palomma delivers distinct offerings for renters and property owners. Palomma Plus supplies occupants with rewards and credit-building perks, while Palomma Advance allows landlords to receive up to a year of future rental revenue immediately. Palomma Protect safeguards rental earnings in the event of a tenant default. Additionally, the firm is building Palomma Flex, designed to enable renters to split monthly payments into two separate installments.

Property managers contribute a subscription fee for the AI software, while Palomma collects a percentage of rent transactions via its payment and financial service lines.

Deepening customer adoption across multiple product tiers has fueled Palomma’s expansion. The business highlights a net revenue retention rate of 390% over a 12-month period, indicating that revenue from an existing cohort of clients nearly quadrupled, even after factoring in customer churn or reduced spending.

Ultimately, the strategy of blending AI leasing tools, payments, and financial products aligns with Echavarría’s philosophy on scaling large enterprises in Latin America. He cited U.S. counterparts such as EliseAI, Bilt, TheGuarantors, and Flex as functional benchmarks for different segments of Palomma’s operations, noting that achieving comparable scale in Latin America demands a broader product suite.

“In the U.S., you can build one solution and be really large because the market allows it,” he said. “In Latin America, if you want to be really large, you need to do all the things.”

Managing the risk

Artificial intelligence also assists in vetting tenants for rental guarantees. Palomma’s conversational leasing agent engages via WhatsApp to gather application materials, allowing the business to deliver application approvals in under 30 seconds by evaluating dialogue data and prior payment patterns.

The firm’s rental guarantees mean Palomma absorbs financial liability if occupants fail to pay. While the startup initially carries that risk internally, Echavarría informed Crunchbase News that negotiations are underway to establish an insurance partnership that will distribute the risk and expand Palomma’s guarantee capacity.

AI is also utilized to maintain a lean organizational structure. As of November 4, the startup employed 18 personnel, an increase from about 14 staff members when the Series A closed roughly three weeks prior. A single customer service team member operates alongside automated AI agents to support the approximately 200,000 renters utilizing Palomma’s platform, according to Echavarría.

The business operates on the thesis that AI reduces the delivery costs of real estate financial services, mirroring how mobile innovations enabled digital financial institutions to challenge incumbent lenders with extensive physical branch networks. Over the long term, Palomma intends to extend its footprint beyond rentals into homeowners association fee processing and residential property transactions.

Pepe Bolaños, managing partner at Cometa, stated that Palomma stood out due to its founding team and the market opening to modernize Latin America’s fragmented rental sector. In Colombia alone, nearly 8 million households reside in rental housing, he observed.

“We look for companies tackling markets where outdated processes create an opportunity to build a proprietary data asset that can be leveraged and monetized through AI,” he wrote via email.

Bolaños highlighted Echavarría’s background in scaling Nubank alongside Monsalve and del Campo’s technical and financial expertise. Over roughly 18 months, Palomma scaled to process around $130 million in monthly rent while serving over 200,000 renters with a team of about 14 employees, he noted.

“That kind of execution is unusual. It convinced us that this team has what it takes to build a much larger business,” he added.

Unlike competitors centered on isolated point solutions, Palomma integrates rent collection, tenant screening, and rental guarantees, collecting data continuously throughout the workflow, Bolaños explained. Direct payment processing yields visibility into renter behavior that refines underwriting accuracy, identifies default risks, and powers new financial solutions, while AI streamlines administrative tasks.

“We believe the combination of distribution, proprietary payment data and AI gives Palomma a competitive advantage that can become stronger as the company grows,” he stated.

Related Crunchbase queries:

• Global Financial Services Venture Funding In 2026
• Latin America Venture Funding In 2026

Illustration: Dom Guzman

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Palomma?

Palomma is a Medellín-based startup founded by Nubank alum Cipriano Echavarría, Felipe Monsalve, and Nicolás Gómez del Campo. It offers an AI-powered software, payments, and financial services platform designed for landlords, tenants, and property managers in Latin America.

How much funding has Palomma raised?

Palomma has raised a total of $14 million in funding, which includes a recent $10 million Series A round led by Cometa and $4 million in previously undisclosed funding.

What services does Palomma offer to tenants and landlords?

Palomma provides products such as Palomma Plus (rewards and credit-building for tenants), Palomma Advance (upfront rental income for landlords), Palomma Protect (rental income guarantees against defaults), and Palomma Flex (planned split-payment options for renters).

How does Palomma use artificial intelligence?

The company uses AI via WhatsApp communication tools to handle leasing inquiries, rapidly screen tenant applications in under 30 seconds, and support customer service operations with a lean internal team.

Which markets does Palomma currently operate in and plan to expand to?

Palomma currently operates primarily in Colombia and is evaluating future expansion into Mexico, Brazil, and the Spanish-speaking U.S. market.