Enrique Perezalonso

This story’s wild, let me tell you about Enrique Perezalonso – the guy’s a straight-up boss in fintech. So, Enrique’s from Mexico, right? He’s been grinding in finance and tech since the mid-90s, starting out as an analyst at Santander back in ’95. Dude’s got over 20 years of experience, and he’s pretty much seen it all, big banks, startups, everything in between.

Fast forward, he’s held some serious roles: he was the Director of Latin America at Bridgeforce, VP of Ops at One Park Financial, and COO at Lana. Basically, he’s been deep in the trenches building stuff, leading teams, and figuring out how to make money flow smoothly across borders.

What really sets him apart? His passion for making finance accessible, especially for folks who are often left out, like Latinos, the underbanked, the remittance folks. He’s all about fixing those pain points, which is why he jumped into Palla Financial. He’s the CEO and Co-Founder there now, and their goal is to totally change how cross-border payments work, especially between the US and Latin America.

And get this, he’s not just some startup guy chasing quick wins. He went through YC’s S21 batch in 2021, which is a big deal. That’s when he really doubled down on building something legit. Palla’s raised over $14.5 million, mainly for building secure, compliant infrastructure that banks and financial institutions can rely on, not some flashy app for consumers. The whole point? Make international money transfers faster, cheaper, safer, no bullshit.

His background in strategy from MIT Sloan and his engineering degree from Iberoamericana shows he’s got brains, but what’s cool is he’s all about real impact. His process’s about more than just startups, it’s about using tech to solve real problems, especially for communities that need it most.

Bottom line? Enrique’s the kind of founder who’s been around the block, knows what it takes to build something meaningful, and isn’t afraid to jump into the deep end. He’s all about making finance work for everyone, especially those who’ve been left behind. That’s why he’s not just a founder, he’s a big change in cross-border payments.