Nubank

Founded in 2013 by David Vélez, Cristina Junqueira, and Edward Wible, to offer banking and credit services in Brazil. They offer their signature purple MasterCard, high-interest savings accounts, personal loans, and debit cards for consumers and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).

History

They launched their first product, a MasterCard Platinum credit card managed through Nubank's app, in 2013. The card attracted customers with no fees – afforded by their lower overheads than traditional banks – and lower interest rates than their brick-and-mortar competition. Nubank used their mobile interface to simplify the credit application process as well.

During Brazil's 2016 recession, Nubank introduced rewards programs to their credit card offerings. They were confident their low overhead and conservative credit modelling, built during an economic downturn, would protect them during the recession.

NuConta

Nubank received regulatory approval to operate as a bank in January 2018. They opened their new digital bank accounts – named NuConta – which gave customers access to billpay, account-to-account transfers and the ability to save more than regular savings accounts.

Conta PJ

Similar to their NuConta accounts, Conta PJ are aimed at small businesses as a business account. Offering users free transfers between accounts and banks, bill and taxes payments, deposit via boleto and the "charge money" feature which allows users to send a link to remind others to send them money.

Nubank also offers personal loans which emphasize transparency into their rates. They allow users to run a simulation of their loan to see the impact the fee and payment structure would have on them and allows them to manage their payments.

Funding

Seed Round

In July 2013, Nubank raised $2 million in their seed round. Investors included Sequoia Capital and Kaszek Ventures.

Series A

Nubank raised $14.3 million in their Series A. Sequoia Capital led the round which included QED Investors, Nicolas Berggruen and Kaszek Ventures. The announcement of their Series A funding coincided with their launch of a MasterCard Platinum credit card managed through Nubank's Android or iOS app.

Series B

In June of 2015, Nubank raised $30 million. Tiger Global Management led the round, which included Sequoia Capital, Kaszek Ventures and QED Investors.

Series C

In January 2016, Nubank raised $52 million in financing. Founders Fund led the round which included participation from returning investors Sequoia Capital, Kaszek Ventures and Tiger Global Management. The post-financing valuation of Nubank was $500 million.

Debt Financing

In April of 2016, Nubank recieved $56 million from Goldman Sachs in a debt financing round.

Series D

In December of 2016, Nubank raised an $80 million round. DST Global led the round which included participation from Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, Founders Fund and QED Investors. This financing came during one of Brazil's worst recessions.

Debt Financing

In August 2017, Nubank raised another debt financing. The round was valued at $144 million and involved Goldman Sachs, who increased their current credit to Nubank, and Fortress Investment Group.

Series E

Nubank raised $150 million in March 2018. DST Global Investment led the round, which included participation from Founders Fund, Redpoint Ventures, Ribbit Capital LP, QED Investors, Dragoneer Investment Group and Thrive Capital Partners. This funding came after Nubank received regulatory approval to operate as a bank, its new digital account and announced 13 million Brazilians had applied to be a Nubank customer.

Secondary Market

Nubank announced a $180 million investment from Tencent in October 2018. This brought Nubanks valuation to $4 billion.

Series F

The July 2019 round raised $400 million for Nubank. TCV led the round which included participation from Tencent, DST Global, Sequoia Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Ribbit Capital LP and Thrive Capital. The financing came off of Nubank expanding their offerings geographically, opening offices in Mexico and Argentina in May of 2019. This round of financing brought Nubank to a $10 billion valuation.