Financial services innovator Nubank closed on $80 million in Series D funding led by DST Global earlier this month, marking DST’s first investment in a Brazilian company. Other participants in the round include Founders Fund, QED Investors, Redpoint, Ribbit Capital, Sequoia, and Tiger.
This is Nubank’s sixth round of funding and brings its total amount raised to $178 million. While there was no report of the company’s latest valuation, FT Partners reports that after its $52 million Series C round closed in January, Nubank was valued at $500 million. The company will use the funds to accelerate hiring efforts and expand its product offerings. Specifically, Nubank hopes to add a rewards program and add more credit products.
Founded in 2013, Nubank offers a Mastercard credit card with a companion mobile app that features PFM capabilities, spending alerts, and a card-lock feature. The company has had success in differentiating itself from other financial institutions in Brazil, which offer credit cards with 400% APR. In comparison, Nubank’s APR comes in significantly lower at 145%. This differentiation has led to Nubank receiving 7 million applications for its card, which currently holds a waiting list of 500,000 applicants.
Nubank Co-founder and CTO Edward Wible, along with Lucas Cavalcanti, lead software engineer, showcased at FinDEVr New York 2016 (pictured above) in a presentation titled Our Money, Our Rulebook. which explored how Nubank deals with real-time, double-entry accounting on a per-customer basis. In October, H2 Ventures and KPMG listed Nubank among 50 leading fintech companies.
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BlueVine offers a straightforward line of credit to help small businesses get the working capital they need. The company is best known for Invoice Factoring, in which it issues cash to small businesses who sell their unpaid invoices at a discount, then receive working capital in a matter of days to help manage operations. Unlike BlueVine’s traditional line-of-credit offering, the term of the financing is short, usually 60 to 90 days.
