Jeff Bezos lands in Brazil with $45M Stark Bank deal

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When Rafael Stark announced the series A round for Stark Bank last December, he already had another ace up his sleeve but couldn’t share it at the time: the digital bank’s Series B round. Four months later, with documents signed and money in the bank, the news is out. The company raised $45 million, in a round led by Ribbit Capital and Bezos Expeditions. This is the first investment Amazon founder Jeff Bezos closes in Brazil, and the first in a fintech. In Latin America, Bezos Expeditions had already invested in the Chilean foodtech NotCo.

Stark Bank’s most recent round was backed by SEA Capital, as well as current investors Lachy Groom and K5 Global. Founders of likes of Airbnb, Kavak and executives from DST, Visa and Coinbase also participated.

Stark Bank wants the throne

Rafael Stark plans to turn Stark Bank into a destination bank for medium and large businesses. The fintech already boasts a portfolio of 300 clients, which includes startups such as QuintoAndar, Loft, Buser, Isaac, Bitso, Daki as well as traditional brands such as Colgate. In addition to a digital account, the company offers services such as instant payments and a recently launched Mastercard-branded credit card that has tools for controlling corporate expenses.

The focus on larger companies is what sets Stark Bank apart from other Brazilian fintechs such as Conta Simples, Cora and Omie, which has recently acquired digital bank Linker.

In October 2021, Stark Bank reached the mark of 1 billion Brazilian reais traded per month (around $200 million). The founder did not disclose the current figures but says that it is in the range of billions. By the end of the year, Stark’s goal is to reach the $2 billion mark.

Use of proceeds

With $58 million in the bank (including both rounds), Stark Bank wants to continue to expand its product offering, including investments, credit lines and acquisitions. In addition, the company plans to launch a new business unit, to be named Stark Infra.

The idea is to offer financial services infrastructure to other companies, with access to APIs that Stark has developed for its own use. “We are not creating a new model. If we already have the products, why not offer them, bring in new sources of revenue and help other companies?” the executive said. With the product, the founder believes that even other financial institutions will be able to become Stark Bank’s clients, expanding the fintech’s range of operations.

In addition to participating in Pix, Brazil’s instant payments platform, Stark will offer company-branded card issuance options (card as a service, or CaaS) and Bank Credit Bills (CCBs).

Stark Bank has secured a Direct Credit Society (SCD) license in 2020, which allows the firm to operate in the credit space. “I think we were the world’s first regulated digital bank to raise a seed round,” Stark joked. The idea is to use the new cash for credit operations for the time being.

According to the founder, acquisitions are not part of the current plans, nor is an international expansion: the focus is 100% on Brazil.

Winter is here

Since he finished the funding process before all of the tension and concerns over another Game of Thrones, Stark said things are calmer for the company at present. Although winter has arrived in this part of the world, he believes that the outlook remains positive. “We are growing anyway, regardless of external factors that we cannot control,” the founder noted.

(translation by Gabriela Del Carmen, editing by Angelica Mari)