[ad_1]
In 2012, the Spanish Sergio Furio arrived in Brazil, directly from New York, without knowing how to speak Portuguese and with an ambitious plan: to change the credit with technological support. Eight years later, you see your company making history in the ecosystem of Opening local: by announcing this Friday 18, the raising of a round of US $ 255 million led by the Private capital LGT Lightstone, a Credits is now valued at $ 1.75 billion and is the newest brazilian “unicorn” – the third of 2020, after Loft me Vtex, and 13 of the country.
Furio, however, does not celebrate the feat of belonging to the select unicorn club (startups valued at over $ 1 billion). “It is a number written on paper, but nothing changes: we will continue talking about work,” says the executive. And there is work to be done: with the investment funds, the company intends to accelerate its performance on three different fronts, seeking to consolidate the launches it made throughout 2020.
Sergio Furio, CEO of Creditas
One is financial services, like collateral-based loans, like real estate and cars, that have made him famous in recent years. Another is consumer services, such as real estate renovations of a loan taken with Creditas. or private payroll loans. And the third is the expansion in Mexico, where fintech began operating in July and already has a team of 60 people. “It is a country that has similar problems to Brazil, with less credit penetration and a large market,” says the Spaniard. “We want the Mexican operation to have the size of what Brazil has for us in two years.”
In total, Creditas currently has 1,800 people. There were 1,500 in March when the company started head office. Contribution amounts will also be used for hiring: By the end of 2021, Furio expects to lead a team of 2,500 employees. The Spanish also does not rule out using the resources to carry out mergers and acquisitions, something that has already worked in the company’s income. “In 2019, we buy from Creditoo, on consigned credit, and we saw that we can use small startups with the potential to scale our business well, “says the fintech CEO, without setting specific goals on the subject.
Turn
The contribution ends a very turbulent year in the history of Creditas: with the start of the pandemic, the company saw the capital market fill with uncertainty and it had to slow down its growth rate to reduce risks. He also froze hiring for a few months and needed to learn how to run the home office.
Halfway through, he ended up making some interesting discoveries: he made a profit in a few months and saw his margins improve. In addition, it doubled its income: in the first nine months of the year it obtained income of R $ 232.1 million, 107% above the R $ 111.9 million of the same period last year. For the 2020 season, the expectation is to reach R $ 300 million in revenue.
“The funds raised now will help people accelerate the future. The more you grow, the more you spend, but you generate income in the future, and our expectation is to double Creditas in 2021 ”, says Furio. In addition, the company also doubled the size of its loan portfolio in 12 months: in September, it had more than R $ 1 billion of assets under management, compared to R $ 534.7 million in the same month of 2019.
It is the first time that the company has detailed its financial situation. Not surprising: in addition to LGT Lightstone, Creditas also received the support of several private equity funds in this round. It is an unhurried step towards a destination still little explored by Brazilian startups: the stock market. “We brought in investors who are a good bridge between the public and private markets. We didn’t want to have pressure to make a quick list, we wanted to have money to grow and make a profit for the company. But it is something that we can look at in two or three years, ”says the executive.
The goal of the startup is to begin to disclose its results on a quarterly basis, with a view to gaining the confidence of the market and thinking about the future. “Taking the company public is a way of allowing the company to have a future life independent of its founder,” says the executive. With the new round, he claims that he no longer has control over the company, but he has control over the board of directors and remains its largest shareholder. “Now we have 14 different investors, so we already operate almost as an open company. I run the business independently. ”
Crisis? What crisis?
For Guilherme Horn, advisor to the Brazilian Association of Fintechs (ABFintechs), the investment underscores the trust of investors not only in Creditas, but also in the Brazilian fintech market. In his opinion, part of the success of the new unicorn is due to betting on the guaranteed credit market, which has less risk and was still little explored in the country. It still sees fintech companies well positioned to take advantage of the transformations of the financial sector, especially with the advent of open banking.
On the other hand, the specialist also sees a great challenge for Creditas in the following chapters: a reliable structure to raise funds for loans. “As the number of loans granted increases, so does the risk. You can mitigate some of this with technology, but you also need to take care of where the resources come from in a healthy way, ”says Horn.
In the opinion of Felipe Matos, president-elect of the Brazilian Association of Startup (ABStartups) and columnist of the StatusAnother point of attention for the company is the investment in private payroll loans in times of economic crisis. It is a concern for the market in 2021, in general, even more so with the end of emergency aid, which can cause problems for companies in different sectors. But Furio is not afraid of the crisis: “in a recession, we could even grow faster, because the banks take a step forward and we reduce the cost of acquisition,” says the executive.
For Matos, on the other hand, the company has strength in the idea of combining financial services with consumer service, as it does with loans and reforms, for example. In his opinion, it is something that can differentiate Creditas in a market whose competition today is limited to interest rates. Horn sees a lot of sense in the company’s commitment to Mexico, a country whose financial system “is five years behind Brazil and is very similar to us.”
In Furio’s opinion, everything is a matter of adaptation, a learning experience that is carried from 2020 to carry in your pocket. “Today, things change so fast that not only who is better wins, but who is more adaptable,” says the executive. And, looking at himself in the rear view mirror, he has no regrets about all the changes he has made throughout his career. “I left New York, which is an incredible city, for Brazil, but here I managed to do something unthinkable. I grew up a lot and it was worth it, ”he says. Scenes from the next chapters? Soon.
[ad_2]
