LatamList – Neon, a leading Brazilian fintech, recently raised a $300M Series C led by General Atlantic along with previous investors Monashees and Flourish Ventures. New investors participating in this round are BlackRock, Vulcan Capital, PayPal Ventures, and Endeavor Catalyst. BBVA also participated through existing shareholder Propel Venture Partners.
The fintech launched in 2016 with a simple digital account and has since expanded its product offering to include investment products (after its acquisition of brokerage platform Magliano Invest in July), credit cards, and personal loans, among other features. Neon has also expanded its initial customer base of consumer clients to also serve SMEs.
The investment will be split between two equal tranches and will help expand Neon’s team, enhance the platform’s technology capabilities, and fund product development. It will also enable Neon to pursue strategic M&A opportunities that can further enrich its offering.
The pandemic has accelerated Neon’s growth trajectory, increasing its userbase by 26% since March, as more people seek alternatives to in-person banking solutions.
“Brazilian banking penetration is relatively high for Latin America but still lags developed market peers, with a significant under-banked population that traditional banks have generally overlooked. Neon is focused specifically on providing access to this group and bringing them into the financial world,” said Jean Sigrist, President of Neon. “This new financing enables us to continue our mission of serving even more clients with an increasingly robust offering.”
This is the company’s third funding round to date. It raised a $22M Series A in May 2018, followed by a $92M Series B in November 2019, co-led by General Atlantic and Banco Votorantim, Neon’s banking partner.
“We’ve worked closely with the Neon team since our initial investment last year to build upon its strong brand and bolster senior leadership in key strategic areas, including technology, business development, and product,” added Luiz Ribeiro, Principal at General Atlantic. “We welcome the partnership of these high-caliber new shareholders as Neon continues to transform the banking space and expand its dynamic suite of solutions for Brazilian consumers and micro-entrepreneurs.”
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