kaszek leads us$21 million investment in fintech remessa online
Contxto – The coronavirus pandemic may have slowed investments down. But some significant rounds are still trickling through and giving us something to talk about.
Today, Brazilian fintech Remessa Online closed an investment for R$110 million (around US$21 million) through Kaszek Ventures. Other contributors include Bewater Ventures and Kevin Efrusy—who’s well-known for having led an investment in Facebook at Accel.
Remessa Online lets Brazilians send or receive remittances from abroad. The startup had previously worked with individuals, but thanks to these fresh funds it will expand into the B2B (business-to-business) realm. Correspondingly, Remessa will use another part of the investment for marketing purposes so as to attract these new customers.
Why it’s a big deal: Besides the value of the round and its participants, Remessa Online’s upcoming plans to expand its international wiring services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been a long time coming for them (more on that in a bit).
Remessa Online’s financial experience
The startup’s co-Founders, Alexandre Liuzzi and Fernando Pavani have quite the backgrounds in the financial services industry.
Liuzzi has previously worked at Santander Bank and JP Morgan. He was also a partner at Velt Partners. Meanwhile, Pavani was at Brazilian Itaú Bank and Franklin Templeton. With their combined experience, they launched Remessa Online in 2018.
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Liuzzi and Pavani’s history also helps explain their understanding of an underlying problem for SMEs. Thus, the new market their startup is addressing.
Showing love for the little guy: “Big companies obtain reasonable help from traditional banks to carry out transactions from abroad,” notes Remessa’s Liuzzi.
“But that’s not the case with smaller businesses. For them, receiving and making international payments is extremely cumbersome and unpredictable.”
While typically, when one hears “remittances” one might think of low-income jobs and manual labor, that’s not necessarily what the startup has in mind. Instead, it’s thinking of freelancers, startups, and other professional service providers in Brazil who offer remote services.
Moreover, with the US dollar gaining value over the Brazilian Real, remittances are a promisingly profitable opportunity investors and Remessa Online couldn’t pass up.
Wanna hear more? We recommend you listen to the following podcast episode: El imparable Kaszek Ventures. You can find the time stamp available in the description.
Related articles: Tech and startups from Brazil!
-ML
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