CASHDROP has defied many of the hardships that plague Latino-founded startups. Now, after two years of growth and securing venture capital funding, CASHDROP is looking to invest in other Latino businesses.
CASHDROP’s founder Ruben Flores-Martinez told Built In on Tuesday that the company is launching a $1 million fund for small, Latino-owned businesses that use CASHDROP’s point of sales, or POS, platform.
The Chicago-based company is an e-commerce and POS system for small businesses. It has lower fees than comparable platforms like Shopify and Square but offers similar features such as payment processing, tap-to-pay and online ordering. The goal of CASHDROP is to reduce the barriers to tools small businesses need to be successful.
CASHDROP’s new fund will be distributed to more than 1,000 small businesses. Flores-Martinez is calling this a “Latino Renaissance.”
“We are currently experiencing a very interesting turning point in the Latino story. Some of the biggest drivers in culture, music and fashion in the world are Latinos,” Flores-Martinez told Built In over email. “We control the keys to the future of this population and the next 20 years, at least, will see a massive wave of wealth and power creation for our community.”
Flores-Martinez is an immigrant from Mexico and founded CASHDROP in 2020 after learning to code. He said he was inspired to launch the new fund after speaking with many of the investors that helped him raise $2.7 million for his startup. Thinking back on the tianguis, or flea markets, near his childhood home and the merchants hustling every day to sell their products also inspired Flores-Martinez to launch this new fund.
To distribute the funds, CASHDROP is fielding applications from its users and will focus on getting capital to businesses that process over $20,000 in monthly sales.
“I want to make sure that when we ring the NASDAQ bell [in the future], we can create as many Latino millionaires as we can,” Flores-Martinez said. “This will help us make sure we live in a world where every Latino kid can truly unlock their full potential.”
