Brazil-based digital bank Neon has closed its Series A round on $22m.
Commitments to the series came from Propel Venture Partners, Monashees, Quona Capital, Omidyar Network, Tera, and Yellow Ventures.
Founded in 2016, Neon is a fully digital banking app which supports users with credit, debit, payments, transfers, deposits, and investments. Neon is authorised by Brazil’s Central Bank and implements facial recognition to reinforce its security.
The platform, which has no monthly fees, has surpassed 600,000 users across Brazil and currently has 190 employees. Earlier in the year, Neon launched its credit card, and moved its headquarters for further growth.
By the end of the year, the company is hoping to have one million users on its platform and launch new services for business banking accounts and investing options.
Neon CEO Pedro Conrade said, “We have just launched our credit card, and will have some exciting news to share later in the year about additional products and services in the pipeline. This funding shows the investors’ confidence in our team, the market opportunity, and in our mission. It will allow us to keep moving at a fast pace while cultivating the creativity and technology to build a leading financial services company in Brazil.”
As part of the transaction, Neon Pagamentos SA transferred its controlling interest to a UK holding company.
The deal will see Propel Venture Partners’ Jay Reinemann and Monashees’ Marcelo Lima will join the company’s board of directors.
Earlier in the year, fellow Brazilian digital bank Nubank closed its Series E round on $150m. DST Global led the investment, with participation also coming from ounders Fund, Redpoint Ventures, Ribbit Capital, QED, Dragoneer Investment Group and Thrive Capital.
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