Nubank Challenges Brazil’s Big Banks in Wake of $150 Million Funding Round
The startup that made headlines recently for its antitrust complaint against some of its country’s largest banks is the same fintech that raked in a major investment from a group of investors earlier this month.
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Nubank has charged Brazil’s big banks with hindering competition in financial services, specifically in the credit card space where Nubank has been making inroads . And now Brazil’s antitrust watchdog, Cade, is on the case. According to Reuters, the five biggest Brazilian banks hold 85 percent of assets in the country’s highly concentrated banking system.
The investigation into Nubank’s complaint is the second time this month that the company has made fintech headlines. Only a few weeks ago Nubank announced receiving $150 million in new funding in a round led by DST Global Investment Partners. Nubank founder and CEO David Velez noted at the time the company had been “cash flow positive since 2017” and that the funding would “serve to further strengthen our balance sheet to support the accelerated growth we have seen since launch.”
“In a little less than four years, more than 13 million Brazilians have applied to become a Nubank customer, a reflection of how ready consumers were to welcome new alternatives to the significantly concentrated Brazilian banking market,” he added. “We look forward to expanding our reach and product offering to many millions more in the years ahead.”
The Series E also featured participation from current investors Founders Fund, Redpoint Ventures, Ribbit Capital LP, and QED. New investors Dragoneer Investment Group and Thrive Capital Partners joined the round, as well.
In addition to its equity capital of $330 million, Nubank received a $137 million (R$455 million) line of credit from Goldman Sachs last year. The company, which won regulatory approval to operate as a bank in January, was named to the KPMG/H2 Ventures’ Fintech 100 in 2017, and also unveiled its new digital account offering to go along with its credit card business.
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Nubank participated in our developers conference, FinDEVr New York 2016. At the event, Nubank co-founder and CTO Edward Wible and Lead Software Engineer Lucas Cavalcanti presented Our Money, Our Rulebook, a discussion of how the company built an accounting system in house based on data science modeling, real time customer visibility, guaranteed conservation of money, and customer account histories.
