Brazilian Fintech Stark Bank Secures $45 Million in Investment Round

On Monday, Stark Bank, a Brazilian financial solutions platform, announced that it received a $45 million investment led by Ribbit Capital, Lachy Groom and Bezos Expeditions from Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos.

According to Reuters, the investment round included the founders of Airbnb, Kavak, as well as executives from DST, Visa and Coinbase. Upon closing the round, Rafael Stark, the company’s founder, said the deal brings the company “close to unicorn status.” Unicorns are startups valued at more than $1 billion.

There are over 300 customers at the company, from small to large, many of whom are also technology-based businesses, including Quinto Andar, Loft, Buser and Bitso, as well as Colgate. According to Stark, the amount raised will enable the fintech to expand its product offering.

It comes about four months after the fintech raised $13 million in an initial round of venture capital funds at a time when investment in Brazilian startups is waning as their dispute with large banks intensifies.

Itausa Stake in XP

Last month, Itausa SA, a Brazilian investment firm, announced on Wednesday that it had sold 12 million class A shares in XP Inc for about 1.8 billion Brazilian real ($366.58 million). The company holds 11.51% of the brokerage’s total capital.

XP was sold as part of Itausa’s strategy to lower its stake and raise additional capital during 2022, as the CEO, Alfredo Setubal said last month that the company would continue selling shares. Itausa reiterated its strategy, saying that it still expects to sell 24 million shares of XP this year as it sees it as a non-strategic asset. Following its recent investments, the holding company noted it is in need of rebuilding its cash position.

In 2019, XP Inc., Brazil’s largest stockbroker, was expected to raise between $1.5 billion and $2.1 billion on Nasdaq in what could be the biggest initial public offering for a Brazilian company. The company planned to price its public offering at around the midpoint of its expected price range. XP had set a range last month of $22 and $25 per share, and at the midpoint, it would be valued at about $14 billion.