RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A year into its operation, Mexican fintech Clara has recently received a US$30 million Series A investment, led by DST Global’s Tom Stafford, with contributions from funds such as Monashees, Kaszek Ventures, Avid Ventures, and former investors like General Catalyst.
The proposal of the company, founded by former Grow employees Diego García and Gerry Giacomán Colyer, is to offer companies in Latin America a smart financial management solution – starting with the corporate credit card.
“While the consumer finance space has undergone a major revolution in recent years, the B2B segment has lagged behind. Payments, corporate credit card and expense management represent a tremendous opportunity globally. Clara has put together a super team to attack this billion-dollar opportunity in Latin America,” says investor Marcelo Lima, partner at Monashees.
The model, which is similar to that of the American fintech Brex, founded by Brazilians Pedro Franceschi and Henrique Dubugras in Silicon Valley, has also attracted a group of major angel investors. Among them are Brian Requarth, from VivaReal; Justin Mateen, from Tinder; Karim Atiyeh and Eric Glyman, from Ramp (Brex’s competitor in the United States); and Nicky Goulimis, from Nova Credit.
In addition to this round, the company is in the process of closing a US$50 million credit line agreement with an as-yet undisclosed partner.
Pandemic betting
García and Giacomán launched Clara in May 2020, in the middle of the pandemic. Ex-employees of urban mobility company Grow, famous for its electric scooters, they decided to venture into the universe of corporate finance inspired by issues they experienced at the former company. “Grow grew very fast and agilely, but the control of internal finances could be better if there were a solution like Clara’s,” says Giacomán.
The first product launched by Clara is a management and issuing platform for corporate cards, which can be used by companies of all sizes and segments. Through it, clients can issue unlimited physical and virtual cards for employees, customize credit lines for each person or department and monitor internal expenses.
For now, the fintech is only operating in Mexico, where it has over 100 client companies, such as Kavak, Cornershop, and Casai, but the partners have their sights set on Brazil. With the investment boost, the company has started hiring in Brazil and its goal is to start operations in the country in July or August this year. In total, the fintech employs 50 people and should close the year with about 150 in the Brazilian and Mexican offices.
According to Giacomán, the company’s main challenge in this phase of strong growth is to coordinate the team to deliver products that the more than 100 clients need. “We have products under development all the time, and with each new client we think about how to meet their needs,” says the co-founder.
Over time, the company’s mission is to be a complete corporate payments solution. To that end, it does not rule out the option of partnering with other banks and fintechs.
Source: exame