Brazilian Fintech Clara Is Back in the Market Raising Venture Funds
(Bloomberg) — Clara, a financial-technology firm based in Brazil, is working to raise new equity and debt financing to support its growth as the company’s chief executive officer sees the venture capital market coming back.
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Clara, which launched in 2021, helps companies control costs and process payments. It hit unicorn status — a valuation of at least $1 billion — just eight months into operations following a $70 million Series B fundraising round led by Coatue Management. A year later it secured a $150 million credit line from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
The firm, which focuses on Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, has kept headcount relatively flat at 330 employees while growing revenue by six times as it serves more than 10,000 clients, according to CEO Gerry Giacoman Colyer.
“We’re in the process of closing additional funding including components of both equity and debt,” Giacoman, 36, said in an interview at the Rio Web Summit. “The conversations are going very well. We see an opportunity now as the markets are starting to thaw, to re-accelerate some plans.”
Giacoman and co-founder Diego Garcia, originally from Mexico, moved the company to Sao Paulo in 2023 after receiving a license from Brazil’s central bank to operate as a payments institution.
While about half of its initial customers were startups, such firms now represent only about 10% of business, Giacoman said. Clara has since added large companies including Burger King, Nike Inc. and Banco Votorantim as clients, he said. It handles about $2 billion in transactions a year.
“We’re approaching profitability, but we have positive unit economics in all three countries,” Giacoman said. “The goal for Clara today is to continue developing the solution for our customers, get to profitability and then continue the geographic expansion.”
Other investors include Monashees, Kaszek, General Catalyst, DST Global, Canary and regional family offices. The credit line with Goldman helps with their post-payment product to give customers 40 days to pay, he said.
Giacoman and Garcia founded the firm after working together at Grow Mobility, a company that operated electric scooters in a handful of countries in Latin America.
“We started by helping companies organize what is often some of their most disorganized spend,” Giacoman said. “To be able to operate with agility and clarity at the same time.”
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