Gelt is a mobile cashback app that allows users to receive reimbursements on supermarket purchases. Its model connects consumers, brands and promotions, combining user engagement, sponsored campaigns and a simple experience: buy, upload the receipt and withdraw the money in cash.
| Startup | Gelt |
| Sector | Consumer · Cashback · Retail media |
| Founded | Spain |
| Stage | International expansion |
| TSCFO services | External CFO · Accounting |
| Main challenge | Organizing a complex financial model involving users, brands and international expansion |
| Solution | Financial model · reporting · accounting · consolidation · CFO support |
| Key result | Expansion into Latin America + orderly transition to an internal CFO |
— 01 · STARTING POINT
A B2C model with significant financial complexity
The Startup CFO started working with Gelt in March 2019, when the company was still a small startup with limited revenue and was closing a round with corporate investors such as Prosegur and Vocento.
The financial challenge was especially complex. Gelt was not only operating as a cashback app for users, but also as an activation platform for sponsoring brands.
This meant managing cashflows to users, revenue from brand campaigns, engagement metrics and a financial structure that had to be accurate, scalable and understandable for investors.
— 02 · WHAT WE DID
Structuring the finance function to scale
At The Startup CFO, we began by restructuring Gelt’s financial model, incorporating its two major business flows: app users and sponsoring brands.
We also professionalized the accounting side, which until then had been managed very informally. With corporate investors coming in, it was essential to have accurate, transparent accounting prepared for reporting, audit and consolidation.
As Gelt grew in Spain and began expanding into Latin America, our work evolved toward monthly reporting, entity consolidation and financial coordination across different countries.
Financial model
Restructuring of the model to reflect cashback, brand campaigns, revenue, costs and cashflows clearly.
Accounting and reporting
Professionalization of accounting, monthly closings, financial reporting and preparation of information for investors.
International expansion
Financial coordination of operations in Spain and Latin America, with country-level reporting and group consolidation.
— 03 · FINANCIAL STRUCTURE
From Spain to an international operation
After consolidating its growth in Spain, Gelt identified a relevant opportunity in Latin America and began expanding into markets such as Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil.
The expansion added a new layer of complexity: different regulatory frameworks, tax requirements, currencies, local teams and corporate structures.
The Startup CFO helped coordinate and model several operations in parallel, ensuring financial consistency, timely reporting and account consolidation, also within the framework of the Prosegur Group, one of the company’s relevant investors.
— 04 · RESULTS
An orderly transition to an internal CFO
Expansion
Financial support in Spain and Latin American markets
Consolidation
Monthly reporting and consolidated accounts for multiple entities
Internal CFO
Progressive transition toward an in-house finance team
The Gelt case shows how a seemingly simple B2C model can hide significant financial complexity. When money is part of the product itself, cash control, accounting and reporting become critical for scaling.
The collaboration helped Gelt organize its financial model, professionalize its processes and support international expansion with greater control. When the company reached the right level of maturity, The Startup CFO supported the transition to an internal CFO, leaving processes and systems ready to operate autonomously.
