// STARTUP COMPARISON
Cinépolis Klic vs Aplazame
Cinépolis Klic failed in 2023 due to Competition. Aplazame failed in 2022 due to Acquisition Gone Wrong. Different causes, different sectors, different eras — but the same simulation outcome.
| METRIC | 🔥 Cinépolis Klic | 🔥 Aplazame |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Media | Fintech |
| Country | Mexico | Spain |
| Founded | 2016 | 2013 |
| Died | 2023 | 2022 |
| Raised | Corporate (Cinépolis) | €15M |
| Peak | 500K subscribers | Acquired by WiZink 2017 |
| Primary Cause | Competition | Acquisition Gone Wrong |
// WHY EACH FAILED
🔥 Cinépolis Klic
Competition
Cinépolis launched Klic as a premium VOD service in 2016, then pivoted to a Netflix-style subscription in 2019. The service reached 500K subscribers using Cinépolis's massive brand recognition in Mexico. Disney+ launched in Mexico in 2020 at $7/month with Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar. Netflix doubled Mexican content investment. Klic, without comparable content budgets or IP catalog, could not compete. Cinépolis shut down Klic in 2023, concentrating resources on its physical cinema network.
// LESSON
Launching a streaming service in 2019 with regional content budgets is bringing a knife to a gunfight. Disney and Netflix spend more per year than Cinépolis's entire market cap. The content gap is not closeable.
Launching a streaming service in 2019 with regional content budgets is bringing a knife to a gunfight. Disney and Netflix spend more per year than Cinépolis's entire market cap. The content gap is not closeable.
🔥 Aplazame
Acquisition Gone Wrong
Aplazame was Spain's early BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) leader, acquired by WiZink Bank in 2017 for an undisclosed sum. Post-acquisition, Aplazame was integrated into WiZink's consumer finance products and its brand gradually disappeared. By 2022, Aplazame as an independent product no longer existed — absorbed into WiZink's broader offering while global BNPL leaders like Klarna and Afterpay dominated the space the company had pioneered.
// LESSON
Being acquired by a traditional bank as a fintech is not an exit — it is a slow disappearance. Banks acquire to neutralize competition, not to scale the product. Aplazame pioneered BNPL in Spain and ended up as a footnote in WiZink's product catalog.
Being acquired by a traditional bank as a fintech is not an exit — it is a slow disappearance. Banks acquire to neutralize competition, not to scale the product. Aplazame pioneered BNPL in Spain and ended up as a footnote in WiZink's product catalog.
// EXPLORE FURTHER