Vivo Ventures (Wayra Brazil) becomes the new strategic investor in Asaas through a BRL 35 million (€5.5 million) transaction, according to a joint statement.
Among the opportunities created by this investment —the largest outlay made by Vivo Ventures to date— is the possibility of offering Vivo’s products to more than 220,000 Asaas clients, particularly at the time of opening the Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica (CNPJ), “when there is greater willingness to contract connectivity services.”
The transaction also paves the way for Asaas’s financial management services to reach the 1.7 million small and medium-sized enterprises that are already Vivo clients.
“Digitalization and financial management are among the main demands of this audience. The partnership with Asaas responds to these needs and opens up a range of new possibilities to generate value for Vivo, Asaas, and our clients,” said Phillip Trauer, Director of Vivo Ventures and Wayra Brazil.
The statement notes that the arrival of a new investor marks a “strategic” moment for Asaas, which last year led the “largest” Series C funding round in Latin America, raising BRL 820 million (€129 million). The round was led by BOND Capital, with participation from SoftBank and 23S Capital.
In addition, Asaas has strengthened its “financial soundness” by recently receiving an AAA rating —the highest in the domestic market— from S&P Global Ratings.
This assessment supports its “excellent credit quality” and “lower probability of default,” particularly following the announcement of the expansion of its third FIDC by BRL 100 million (€15.8 million), aimed at advancing receivables from clients’ credit card transactions.
Vivo Ventures’ entry into Asaas’s share capital was carried out through the acquisition of a stake in Parallax, which has remained a “significant” shareholder in the company since 2018.
According to the statement, Parallax is the “only” venture capital manager in Latin America specialized “exclusively” in fintechs, and its 2018 fund ranks among the world’s top 10% in terms of profitability.
Vivo Ventures and Parallax were already partners in other investments, such as Klubi —which manages a portfolio exceeding BRL 1.5 billion (€236.7 million) and is the only fintech authorized by the Central Bank to operate in Brazil’s consortium market— and Klavi, the fourth largest player in the Open Finance sector for individual CPFs and the only fintech that combines credit intelligence and collection solutions with Open Finance data.
With 15 years of experience in the market, Asaas has raised more than BRL 1 billion (€157.8 million) in funding rounds and has authorization from the Central Bank to operate as the 31st payment institution in Brazil. It also holds a license to operate as a Direct Credit Society (SCD).
For its part, Vivo Ventures was created in April 2022 with €320 million in committed capital, aimed at investing in growth-stage startups, preferably in Series A or B rounds, that offer innovative solutions in areas strategic to Vivo
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