Neon is reporting that revenue has grown by 3X while predicting it will grow 2X in 2022. This is following a Series D round that raised $300 million at a valuation of $1.6 billion. BBVA (NYSE: BBVA) provided the growth capital for Neon and agreed to invest the $300 million this past February to boost the neo-banking platform. Neon is regulated by the Central Bank of Brazil, as a Payment Institution.
Neon is a Fintech that focuses on the underbanked population in Brazil. Neon states that while Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America, 80% of the country’s population is low-income. The company’s focus is on the financial inclusion of this group, including microentrepreneurs (MEI) and people with informal formal employment. Neon reports that it currently handles an average of more than R$5.8 billion (∼ US$1.2 billion US) per month in transactions. Neon has hired an additional 700 employees in the first half of 2022 with a total headcount of over 2300 individuals. At the end of 2021, Neon reported 15+ million customers.
In a release, Pedro Conrade, founder and CEO of Neon, commented:
“Our mission is to always provide all our customers with simple and fair ways to obtain credit. This is our contribution to rebalancing financial inequalities and making a difference in people’s lives. Neon has grown tremendously and is increasingly solid, but one thing has never changed, our purpose – to improve the finances of Brazilian workers – is what drives us. Our expectation for this year is to more than double our revenue.”
Since its launch in 2016, Neon has challenged the establishment banks with a digital banking service that includes debit and credit cards without annual fees, personal loans, payroll loans, investments in certificates of deposit, cashback in debit, various forms of payment, and other products offered without the historically high fees. I
Neon says it plans to enter new business verticals that help customers “co-build” their path to credit, giving them access to greater product diversification. These include insurance and more credit alternatives such as loans.
