Unicorn Ebanx Makes Latin America Push as Virus Fuels Growth

(Bloomberg) -- Brazilian fintech unicorn Ebanx is expanding its cross-border payment processing solutions to five new markets in Latin America, as the coronavirus pandemic accelerates the region’s digitalization, boosting online transactions in most countries.

The company, which last year was valued at over $1 billion after a second round of investments by U.S. private equity firm FTV Capital, plans to enter Paraguay, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic and Guatemala in addition to nine other countries where it already operates, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder Joao Del Valle says.

“Our Latam growth outside Brazil has been very relevant and we’re confident that these new markets will interest many of the global companies we serve,” Del Valle said in an interview, noting Ebanx has among its customers big tech firms such as Uber Technologies Inc, Airbnb Inc and Spotify Technology SA.

The goal is to kick off operations in at least one of the four markets in Central America during the first quarter of 2021, and in Paraguay in the second quarter, he added.

Besides stretching its footprint in the region, the so-called Push LatAm initiative also aims to broaden the array of services offered in Mexico, Colombia and Argentina by combining cross-border and local processing services. “In Brazil, for instance, we’ve been already processing payments for Uber locally,” the executive said.

Another growth front is the e-wallet Ebanx Go launched last January in Brazil, which according to Del Valle has been growing steadily ever since. “Now we want to bring Ebanx Go to one more country by the second quarter of 2021.”

The fintech’s further push into Latam will be self-funded, he said, and so far there are no plans for a new financing round. “We have a good relationship with funding sources and maybe we might do something if an M&A opportunity arises, but for now we are healthy and managing to keep a positive cash flow,” Del Valle added.

Ebanx is also seeking to boost staffing in Latin America as part of its expansion plan. “We already have around 1,000 employees throughout the region and we’re hiring more.”

The Push LatAm initiative aims to help the fintech fulfill its target of reaching over 100 million consumers in Latin America by 2021 compared to over 70 million currently. In 2019, the fintech processed $2.2 billion in payments.

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