Julián Colombo, CEO of the financial software company N5, previews the company’s growth plan in Peru. This includes investing US$20 million in the acquisition of local startups to accelerate software development time.
How much revenue did N5 generate in 2023, among the more than 10 markets in which it operates?
We generated US$21 million. This year, the goal is $54 million.
They announced their arrival in Peru. How much of the total revenue would this operation produce in its first year?
There is a decoupling between our sales and revenues, which can be many months in the more formal banks. Therefore, the sale will probably be at US$10 million, but the turnover at US$5 million. Peru will account for about 20% of the company.
Is the US$20 million to be invested in startups in Peru from the 2023 investment round?
It was a plan we had. The results of previous years made it possible to build up reserves for this operation. But yes, they mainly come from the round. 70% or 75% comes from there.
In what areas of the business do you seek to incorporate the technology of Peruvian startups?
Customer communication channels, artificial intelligence and process flow software.
What results do they want to achieve?
We want to accelerate the development curves. One way is to take people who have already built something and get hold of that code. But, more than anything, from that very well-trained team, which has clarity of what it has to build. Align them towards convergence with our product. Through acquisitions, we will be able to accelerate our roadmap in 12 months. Our 36-month software development plan will become 24 [months].
Does N5 set any specific goals here?
Our intention is to be absolute leaders in Latin America and Peru in three years. We started operations here four months ago and we already have Interbank, BCP, Sura and Mastercard among our clients.
Why acquire, specifically, Peruvian companies?
We are very happy with the talent we found in Peru. They are people who have great work ethic, creativity, knowledge in a financial market that still has big problems, but intuition of the right solutions. And, on the other hand, it is a way of leveraging ourselves: we are going to generate resources in the country and it seems fair to us to invest them in it. We don’t want to have a sporadic relationship. So, we want to invest in Peru because it’s a way to accelerate that process.
Editorial: Semana Económica
