Evaluating only PayVia’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Regulation as the #1 likely cause. That’s exactly how it died.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
Villalobos and Cascante co-found PayVia in San José to digitize SME payments.
FUNDING
Raises $1.2M across two angel rounds from Costa Rican and US investors.
Founders announce closure on LinkedIn after exhausting $1.2M without regulatory approval.
Full Analysis
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Documented cause
PayVia, a San José-based mobile payments startup co-founded by Andrés Villalobos and María Cascante in 2016, raised $1.2M across two angel rounds but failed to obtain a SUGEF operating license by 2019. Regulatory delays stretched 18 months beyond projections, burning through reserves. By Q1 2021, unable to legally process payments and with runway exhausted, the founders announced closure via LinkedIn in March 2021.
Lesson
“Map regulatory timelines to funding runway; a license gap kills faster than competition.”