Latin American banking giant Nubank snaps up US software company

via AltFi

The biggest digital bank in Latin America has purchased the US software company behind the Clojure programming language, marking its first acquisition outside of its native Brazil.

Nubank, which is backed by Tencent, has acquired US consultancy Cognitect for an undisclosed amount.

Key to the acquisition was Nubank bringing on board Cognitect engineers who work on the Clojure programming language, said Nubank, in which Tencent holds a minority stake.

Cognitect, which employs around 600 engineers, also specialises in remote working.

“We have a strong commitment to democratising the access to financial services in Latin America and, by joining forces with Cognitect, we will be able to further enhance our products to give people control over their money through financial services that are simple, transparent and human”, said David Vélez, founder and CEO of Nubank, which is also behind the Datomic database.

“We have always used technology to solve problems, but with Nubank we are looking forward to an even more direct connection between the systems we build and their impact on millions of people,” said Justin Gehtland, CEO and co-founder of Cognitect.

“After partnering with Nubank for the past six years, we are very excited to be able to contribute on a full-time basis with Nubank’s mission to fight complexity and empower people, reinventing financial services in the process.”

Nubank, founded in 2013, has over 25m customers. It allows users to make transfers, pay bills and earn interest on deposits.

“This deal is a fundamental step in Nubank’s growth as it will help us further strengthen our team, improve our products, and expand our operations in a healthy and sustainable manner,” added Edward Wible, co-founder and CTO of Nubank.

As part of the deal, Nubank will be a sponsor of Clojure, which Nubank said would remain independent.