Bezos becomes a Brazilian fintech partner, Epic Games is valued at US$ 32 billion and what matters in the market

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Bezos invests in Brazilian fintech

Brazilian fintech Stark Bank announced this Monday (11) that it received a $45 million (R$ 213.8 million).

The investment was led by the Ribbit Capital fund and also had a stake in Bezos Expeditions, the personal wealth fund of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. Creators of Airbnb and Kavak and executives from DST, Visa and Coinbase are also among the fintech investors.

In numbers: the jackpot comes four months after the startup made its first venture capital fundraising, when it raised $13 million (R$ 61.8 million).

Stark Bank did not disclose what it is valued at, but founder Rafael Stark told Reuters the transaction puts it “close to unicorn status” (startups valued at $1 billion or more).

The company: created in 2018, fintech is focused on financial solutions for companies, such as the management of accounts payable and receivable, exchange products, corporate card, payroll and collection management via boleto and Pix.

• There are more than 300 customers, between medium and large. Some of them are Fifth Floor, Loft, Buser, Bitso and Colgate.

• The funds from the contributions will go towards expanding the credit offer and adding products for investments and for receiving payments via card.

Flood of money: The fintech sector is the one that receives the most investments among Brazilian startups. Last year, this niche led in terms of number of deals (176) and in amounts raised (US$ 3.7 billion, R$ 17.4 billion), according to data from Distrito.

Lego and Sony invest $2 billion in Epic Games

The Japanese Sony and the Danish Kirkbi, maker of Lego, announced this Monday an investment of $2 billion (R$9.4 billion) at Epic Games.

The money goes to finance the development of the metaverse, an area in which Epic Games took the lead with its game “Fortnite”, with 350 million of users in the world.

Understand: “Fortnite” is free to download and generates billions of dollars in revenue from marketing items for the characters, such as clothing and accessories.

• The game is considered as a hint of the metaverse because it already brings together some concepts designed for this world that mixes physical and virtual realities – but still without a clear definition.

• The game has already held concerts, brand events and art exhibition spaces within its digital world. In August 2021, American singer Ariana Grande performed a series of shows that were watched by millions on the platform.

In numbers: Sony, which is already a shareholder of Epic Games, and Kirkbi are investing US$ 1 billion (R$ 4.70 billion) each. The American developer is now valued at $31.5 billion (R$ 148 billion).

In February, Epic Games itself participated in an investment round of $20 million (R$94 million) at Spire Animation to build experiences focused on the metaverse.

More about games:

After tightening regulation on the sector in July last year, when it imposed a limit of three hours a day for children and teenagers to play online, China authorized exceptions this Monday for 45 titles.

‘Surprise’ with inflation and Covid in China bring down Stocks and dollar

The advance of Covid in China, which brought down the stock markets around the world, and the surprise of Roberto Campos Neto, president of the Central Bank, with inflation set the tone of the local market this Monday.

In numbers: while the Ibovespa retreated 1.16%, at 116,925 pointsthe dollar fell 0.46% to BRL 4.69with the market seeing the possibility of a higher interest rate hike here as a factor of strengthening the real.

The oil sank 4.18% early this Monday night, with the Brent barrel in $98.48 (BRL 462). It is the lowest price since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

What explains:

• Inflation: March’s IPCA, which soared 1.62% and was the highest for the month since the beginning of the Real Plan, came above market projections and surprised even the president of the BC, who said that inflation in Brazil is “very high “.

• Fees: As a result of the general surprise, the DI interest contracts (Interbank Deposits) maturing in January 2023 went from 12.75% per annum on Thursday (7th) to 13.085% this monday.

Is there more tightening coming? The rise in interest futures contracts is a sign that part of the market expects the BC to make the current cycle of high Selic rate go beyond 12.75% per year.

• Today at 11.75%, the BC had contracted a 1 percentage point hike for the next Copom meeting, in May, but Campos Neto had indicated in March that the next increase would be the last in the Selic rate.

• Now, the market already sees a rate close to 14%, but some analysts believe that the fall in commodities and the appreciation of the real may contribute to the high cycle ending at 12.75%.

Airlines want to re-discuss kerosene price

Brazilian airlines requested this Monday the installation of a permanent dialogue table with the government to discuss the price of aviation kerosene.

The sector wants to discuss what it calls competition problems in the fuel market, which may even involve the state-owned company’s pricing policy. THE Sheet showed that companies also intend to discuss the need for tax relief for the sector.

in numbers: according to the companies, the fuel had already gone up 76% in 2021 and generated a loss of BRL 16.5 billion last year. Today, they claim that aviation kerosene represents 50% of its costs (instead of the traditional 30%).

why it matters: the rise in fuel led airlines to raise ticket prices. From January, before the war in Ukraine, to March, the average price of tickets rose up to 62% in Brazil, according to a Kayak survey.

On the 1st, Petrobras increased by 18% the prices of fuel used by aircraft in the country.