Marvin: Brazilian fintech founded in March 2021 valued at US$12 million by investor Mauá

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The startup enters the market with an eye on the Central Bank’s changes to the payment arrangement and management of credit card receivables.

Founded three months ago, fintech Marvin secured investment from Mauá Capital, which valued it at R$65 (about US$12) million. The high valuation for a recently created company is based on the management company’s assessment, led by the former director of the Central Bank Luiz Fernando Figueiredo, that the market for payment arrangements and anticipation of receivables is about to experience a revolution.

The driver of this change is the Central Bank itself, which through Circular 3.952 is trying to decentralize the market by creating a registry of credit card receivables. After being deferred more than once, the measure should come into force on June 7.

Attentive to the opportunities arising from the new rule, Marvin was founded by entrepreneurs Bernardo Vale, ex-partner of the fintech Monkey Exchange, and Henrique Echenique, ex-director of operations of Cerc registry. The partners’ goal with the fintech is to simplify transactions between large companies and small retailers using credit card receivables.

“Imagine a non-flagged gas station owner. He needs to buy gasoline from the supplier in cash, but receives card payments within 30 days. In order to manage the operation, he advances the receivables, paying a fee for the service. Our plan is to be in the middle of the chain to guarantee that the supplier company can provide the client with more time,” says CEO Bernardo Vale.

The method Marvin found to guarantee satisfaction on both ends – retailer and supplier industry – is the exchange of ownership of receivables in the registers. Thus, following the entrepreneur’s example, a gas station could assign its credit card receivables directly as payment for gasoline. For the supplier company, the risk of non-payment is low, as the payment is guaranteed by acquirers such as Cielo and Rede.

“Our revenue will come from a fee charged for the service of changing the ownership of receivables in the register. The cost of anticipation is currently around 1.5% per month, we will charge at least one fifth of that,” says Vale. The operation, which is being tested with the first 5 client industries, needs the regulation to come into force in June to be able to start. The fintech’s projection is to handle at least R$500 million during the second half of the year.

For investor Luiz Fernando Figueiredo, Marvin’s quick positioning in this market, which has not yet been born, was the reason for Mauá’s investment, which does not typically invest in the venture capital market. The manager does not disclose the investment amount, but says that it bought a material minority stake in the business, more than 10%. “I have always been very interested in everything related to payment systems. The new regulation that will come into force in June will create a huge opportunity for players other than banks, so we thought it made sense to invest in Marvin,” says Figueiredo.

Source: exame

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