Brazilian Fintech Startup Neon Said To Have Banked $94M From General Atlantic, Others

Neon, which operates a digital bank in Brazil, has reportedly raised $94 million in funding in a round led by Banco Votorantim and General Atlantic, according to a news report from Brazilian publication Estadao.

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The company plans to use the new capital to triple the number of its customers in 2020. The three-year-old startup says it currently has nearly 2 million active accounts, according to the article.

Washington, D.C.-based Quona Capital, Propel Venture Partners, Omidyar Network, and Monashees also participated in the round, which brings Neon’s total raised since its inception to over $121 million, according to Crunchbase data.

In May 2018, Crunchbase News covered Neon’s $22 million round, which marked San Francisco-based and fintech-focused Propel Venture Partner’s first investment outside of the United States.

At that time, Propel said its investment in Neon was a testament to a “fintech revolution” taking place in Brazil, which is known for extremely high interest rates and limited banking choices for consumers.

Co-founder Pedro Conrade told Estadao that most of the new capital would go toward hiring people. He said he expects the company will have about 600 employees by year’s end, triple what it had in early 2019. He added that Neon will also explore expanding its product portfolio.

The startup has already began expanding its offerings. New products include credit and investment services. Specifically in July, Neon revealed it was developing a personal line of credit.

Conrade founded Neon with the goal of giving customers an alternative to traditional banks. Neon does not offer physical branches.

The round is the latest funding out of the country involving global investors, an increasing phenomenon. In July, for example, Silicon Valley venture firm TCV confirmed it led a $400 million round for Brazilian fintech startup Nubank, marking the firm’s first “significant” investment in Latin America.

Illustration: Dom Guzman