CloudWalk Payment Startup Becomes New Brazilian Unicorn

Payment startup CloudWalk is the new Brazilian unicorn, a term given to technology companies that reach a market cap of US$1 billion (more than R$5.5 billion).

It is the second to reach the brand in November: the first, Carrega.com, is a holding of cargo transport startups.

The startup reached pricing after an investment of US$150 million (R$831.96 million). The assessment of the company’s value, which reached US$ 2.15 billion (approximately R$ 11.925 billion), was led by its own chief executive, Luis Silva.

The year is one of record investments in innovation — it’s already US$ 8 billion in 2021 alone, almost three times the volume of 2020. The sector’s dynamic makes experts believe that a financial bubble is forming.

The main investor was the American fund Coatue, and the round was attended by football players Larry Fitzgerald and Kelvin Beachum.

CloudWalk’s key business is InfinitePay, an initiative launched in 2019 to offer payment machines for commerce. The startup also works with software integrated into the device, which was incorporated after the purchase of Confere. This year, the platform also launched a payment link tool and a digital wallet.

“As the global payments market evolves rapidly, we believe the blockchain will soon become the dominant source for all future payment processes,” said Luis Silva in a statement released by the company.

The blockchain, a kind of global trading book, is the bet for payment technologies.

The startup currently serves 150 thousand merchants in 4.3 thousand cities across the country. The capital acquired in the round, according to the note, will be used to expand the brand to other countries, “with the objective of starting operations in the US and European markets in the next two years”.