#120 – Stori's story of becoming Mexico's 9th unicorn and a credit card giant: Marlene Garayzar

<p><b>Stori </b>became the ninth <em>unicorn </em>of Mexico this year, after raising a US$ 150 million equity and debt round last July. And, with it, the credit card fintech got a valuation of 1.2 billion dollars. That&apos;s another proof of the impressive strength fintechs are showing in Latin America, even considering the slowdown in relation to 2021.</p><p>Stori aims to offer credit card access to 100 million underserved Latin Americans – and about one million and a half Mexicans are already Stori&apos;s customers. One of its co-founders is <b>Marlene Garayzar</b>, who has almost 20 years of previous experience in financial services.</p><p><em>Today, Marlene and I talk about:</em></p><ul><li>What it&apos;s like being the newest Mexican unicorn and growing a startup while growing your own family, and Marlene&apos;s trajectory in the financial sector up to Stori;</li><li>The scenario of credit access in Mexico, and how Stori started, divided roles between founders, built trust with its first customers, convinced funds to invest, and then gained traction;</li><li>The challenges the fintech faces daily, such as preventing frauds and educating customers, and what&apos;s next for Stori and the fintech sector in Latin America.</li></ul><p>Hey, <a href='https://www.latitud.com/pt/programs/explore'>apply to be a fellow</a>, <a href='https://go.latitud.com/'>open your startup</a> or <a href='https://updates.latitud.com/newsletter'>sign up for our newsletter</a>.<br/>Follow us on <a href='https://www.linkedin.com/school/latitudlatam'>Linkedin</a> / <a href='https://twitter.com/latitudlatam'>Twitter</a> / <a href='https://www.instagram.com/latitudlatam'>Instagram</a> / <a href='https://www.latitud.com/en/podcast'>Podcast</a>. </p>