Nomad raises USD 61 mln in Tiger-led round

Founded in 2019, the firm offers Brazilians access to financial services in the US, including bank accounts, an investment platform, international remittances, and debit cards. The round’s proceeds will be used to expand the company’s investment platform and launch new products, including credit cards.

Back in May 2022, Nomad raised a USD 32 million in a Series B round led by Stripes, a US venture capital fund. The raised capital was intended to be invested in technology, as well as additional marketing channels, and workforce expansion. Currently, the company is valued at USD 361 million, compared to USD 200 million in 2022. 

According to afi global’s report, the Central Bank of Brazil has been working on financial citizenship since 2013, seeking to provide financial inclusion, financial consumer protection, and financial education in an integrated manner. Digital payments have had a pivotal impact on the banking sector in the country, leading to a better-structured financial ecosystem that can be used by individuals. The progress is due to the modernisation of the regulatory framework, intensive use of technology, entrepreneurship, and the design of products and services that address the needs of Brazilians.

Approximately 16 million individuals have been enfranchised into the financial system since the COVID-19 pandemic has begun. Moreover, the change towards online services resulted in 85% of Brazilians having access to financial services.

However, the government’s regulations impose challenges for payment providers and players that want to introduce new solutions to the market. Even if countries adopt measures such as licensing and capital requirements, domestic processing, and data restrictions to improve security, control costs, or focus on privacy concerns, they may negatively impact access to the market. Yet, through proportional regulation, the Brazilian Central Bank has aided in the entry of additional institutions.

The regulatory landscape in Brazil enabled digital banks to introduce new technologies, which have been essential for the development of financial inclusion during the pandemic. Moreover, the introduction of Pix, a real-time payment system launched in 2020 by the Central Bank of Brazil, represented another instrument to drive financial inclusion through digital payments. 

The Brazilian market has been transforming itself, and the fintech industry has seen growth due to providing more opportunities than traditional banks. According to Statista’s report, the largest market in 2023 is predicted to be Digital Investment with an AUM of USD 2 billion. Also, the Digital Assets market is expected to present a revenue growth of 42.3% in 2024.

As seen in IDB’s study, the number of fintech platforms has rapidly increased in the Latin and Caribbean region from 2018 to 2021, reaching 2,482 in 2021, of which 31% were in Brazil. The introduction of regulatory sandboxes and innovation hubs has opened testing in the country, along with the regulatory progress, including crowdfunding and the enabling of open finance. 

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