Today, we’re talking with Xavier Bolaño, Head of Corporate Venture Capital at Círculo de Crédito, who shares his professional journey in finance and innovation. From the beginning, Xavier has been focused on social impact and financial innovation, a vision he strengthened through his studies in digital business and venture capital at the University of Barcelona and Stanford. Before joining Círculo de Crédito, Xavier held key roles as CFO at Ashoka for Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, and as Head of Latin America at Seedstars, where he focused on driving strategic collaborations between investment funds and corporations. Now, as a core member of C-Labs, the innovation lab at Círculo de Crédito, he is focused on building disruptive initiatives that define the future of the financial industry in Mexico and Latin America.
Can you tell us a bit about Círculo de Crédito and its focus? What types of clients and sectors do you serve?
Círculo de Crédito is the leading credit information company in the fintech sector, dedicated to transforming the financial ecosystem with innovative and technological solutions. It offers a comprehensive approach that spans the entire credit cycle, from origination decision-making to identity verification and fraud prevention. With advanced tools, such as alternative data and wellness solutions, it empowers companies and consumers to make decisions with greater certainty and confidence and thus establish a safer and more efficient relationship with credit.
Our main clients include Banco Azteca, Coppel, Nubank, Didi, and Compartamos, who trust our tools to improve the accuracy and efficiency of their credit decisions.
What is the purpose of C-Labs? Why did you decide to create it?
C-Labs was born out of Círculo de Crédito’s need to look to the future and anticipate new demands in an increasingly digital and diverse market. With a clear mandate, C-Labs is dedicated to exploring, researching, validating, and developing innovative business models that aren’t yet on the company’s radar. We aim to identify and invest in solutions that may not be top priorities now but show strong potential for the future of the credit bureau and the financial ecosystem.
Tell us about the projects and solutions being developed at C-Labs. I understand you collaborate with startups but also run in-house projects, right?
At Círculo, we manage credit information for over 80 million Mexicans, which gives us deep insight into their needs and behaviors. This allows us to structure our projects with two approaches: the first is our Venture Studio, where, leveraging internal analytics and market trends, we create in-house projects, whether through internal entrepreneurship efforts or by collaborating with startups to develop them. The second approach is to establish partnerships, either commercial or investment-based, with allied startups. These collaborations allow us to support innovative initiatives that complement our capabilities and contribute to the growth of the financial ecosystem.
What do you look for in the startups and other external players you collaborate with? What technologies interest you, and what is the selection and piloting process like?
When collaborating with startups, we look for more than just advanced technology; we look for capabilities that strengthen our core of analyzing large amounts of data to develop models and solutions tailored to our clients’ needs. We’re also exploring emerging technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) as a driver of new models, and ID tech solutions for managing digital identity and data. Our process begins with an assessment of the technology and team, always aiming for a collaboration that adds value to both the startup and Círculo and/or our clients. If the project is promising, we conduct a pilot to validate its impact, focusing on gathering data about its desirability, viability, and feasibility.
How does the scouting and collaboration process with startups work at C-Labs? Do you have a system for selection and piloting?
At C-Labs, our approach is more about actively scouting for startups than having an open submission form, although we’re open to recommendations from venture capital partners and executives at other corporations. We identify solutions that we believe will significantly impact the future of our core business, with continuous monitoring of our areas of interest every six months based on market trends. Collaborations can go beyond piloting, such as distribution partnerships where we integrate the startup’s product into our channels to meet specific use cases. When a pilot is needed, its duration varies depending on the project, but we always evaluate the mutual value and benefit for both our clients and the startup.
Let me tell you about BackgroundCheck Pro, an in-house project we developed for the B2C market. It allows any person or business to validate someone’s official and digital identity, legal background, work history, and credit history — essential for those who need to trust someone for personal, business, or work-related tasks. For example, if you want to hire a nanny, school tutor, home nurse, or new cashier for your mini-market, you can perform a BackgroundCheck on our platform in a 360° way, easily and quickly. We started by researching use cases and already have an MVP serving hundreds of clients, helping them make trust-based decisions with data.
How do you see the collaboration between corporates and startups in Latin America, especially compared to other regions? What challenges do you observe?
Collaboration between corporates and startups in Latin America faces specific challenges. One of the main ones is aligning expectations and establishing a clear commitment from the beginning for both participants. Corporates, due to their complexity, tend to be slower and more structured, the agile startup with a testing and rapid-iteration mindset, which can feel like an “elephant” trying to dance with an “ant”, In more mature regions, like Europe and the United States, there are less frictions for startups to work with corporates because they have more experience working together, and have learned from their mistakes and better understand how to collaborate and reach goals efficiently.
From Círculo de Crédito’s perspective, how do you currently see the financial sector in Mexico, and what challenges and opportunities do you identify in other verticals?
Mexico is undoubtedly one of the region’s major economies, and the financial sector is growing with the birth of new startups and the entry of new players. From my perspective, we’ll increasingly see consolidation and alliances between established players and new local and international participants. At Círculo de Crédito, for example, we are evolving from a solely credit-focused approach to one centered on certainty and trust, adapting our solutions to sectors like PropTech and others beyond just finance. By opening up to new verticals and leveraging strategic partnerships, we become more dynamic a trend that promotes the creation of new opportunities.
How can entrepreneurs who think they’re a good fit reach out to you?
The most efficient way is through my email: [email protected] or the form available on our website. We make an effort to respond quickly to proposals and be transparent. If we see potential in the collaboration, we integrate it into our innovation funnel. And if it’s not the right time, we’re also clear from the start to keep realistic expectations and keep entrepreneurs informed about the status of the potential collaboration.
This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)
