Nubank in the crypto world, solar energy fintech raises BRL 500 million and what matters in the market

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Inflation slows but still scares

Inflation in Brazil reached 1.06% in April, reaching 12.13% in the 12-month period, the highest level since October 2003. For the month, it is the highest increase since 1996.

The data were released this Wednesday (11) by the IBGE.

In numbers: the result came close to the market’s expectations, which expected an advance of 1.01%. It was a deceleration in relation to March, when the IPCA surprised and shot up 1.62%.

four points To understand April inflation:

1 – The biggest increase was in the group food and drinks (2.06%), driven by the increase in food for consumption at home (2.59%).

• In this item, the price of potato was the one that accelerated the most in April, with a high of 18.28%. Strawberry (17,66%) and passion fruit (15.99%) come next.

two – The second biggest advance for the month was registered by transport (1.91%), a group that has been putting pressure on inflation in recent months. Highlight for gasoline (2.48%), the product with the greatest impact on the index for the month (0.17 pp.).

3 – The biggest contribution to the deceleration of the IPCA in relation to March came from the group housing (-1.14%), with emphasis on the drop in electricity prices (-6.27%).

4 – Another number that worries analysts is the diffusion of 78.25% in the April IPCA. This means that rising prices are widespread across sectors and make inflation more persistent and difficult to control.

Out there: US consumer inflation slowed down sharply in April to 0.3% up 1.2% in March, but it was not enough to ease market concerns.

More on inflation:

Gol and Avianca create holding

The Brazilian Gol and the Colombian Avianca announced on Wednesday the creation of a holding company that will combine the operations of the two airlines.

Under the name Abra, it will also participate in the Viva (Colombia) and Sky (Chile) brands. All these airlines are low cost.

Understand: the agreement is not a merger, that is, the companies will continue to act independently, but will have the same controller.

The business: the companies’ objective is to reduce costs by concentrating the purchase of important inputs for the operation in the same group. The main one is aviation kerosene, which soared this year along with oil prices.

• The new holding will also multiply the number of routes between Latin American countries, and its customers will be able to use the different mileage programs of the companies.

• The American fund Elliot promised to invest up to US$ 350 million (R$ 1.8 billion) in the holding, in a signal to the market of confidence in the business.

why it matters: This agreement is yet another one involving the period of consolidation of the airlines’ business after the damage caused by the pandemic.

Nubank in the crypto world

As cryptocurrency quotes melt with global risk aversion sentiment, Nubank saw an opportunity to start investing in this market.

The fintech said this Wednesday that it has allocated about 1% of the parent company Nu Holdings’ capital in bitcoins.

What explains: the digital bank took the opportunity to announce that it now offers customers the possibility to invest in bitcoin and ether –the two largest cryptocurrencies in the world– through its platform.

• With investments from BRL 1the option was offered to some customers this Wednesday and should reach the entire base by June.

Déjà vu: Nubank’s move is very similar to that made by Mercado Livre in December, when it released crypto operations to customers. The retailer also invests in bitcoins.

Free fall: Nubank’s shares continue to suffer more than the average of technology companies and this Wednesday collapsed 14% on the New York Stock Exchange.

• The shares are down by about 60% since the IPO. Fintech retreats in the face of market expectations that its results should feel the advance in default as a reflection of high interest rates in Brazil.

More about crypto:

Understand how the fall in Luna stablecoin prices generated an alert for this type of asset that is indexed to strong currencies, such as the dollar.

Solar fintech raises half a million

The fintech for financing solar energy systems Solfácil announced this Wednesday that it received a contribution of $100 million (R$ 512 billion).

The investment was led by the venture capital fund QED Investors, with participation from SoftBank, VEF and Valor Capital. The startup did not say how much it was valued.

The company: founded in 2018, it offers solar panel financing to customers and is also a link between sellers, installers and consumers.

• The idea is for the customer to use the money he saves on the electricity bill to deduct the financing for the purchase and installation of solar panels.

• Solfácil claims that it has been growing eight times a year and has financed more than BRL 1.2 billion to install about 15 thousand solar energy equipment.

Bottom pocket: The Sheet showed in February that the investment, however, is high and tends to be more worthwhile in the short term for those who spend more.

where does the money go: Solfácil wants to use the money to expand its financing offer, expand its marketplace and invest in technology. The goal until the end of the year is bold: to overcome rivals BV and Santander Brasil and become the leader of the sector in the country.

More on startup businesses:

The British fintech Ebury announced this Wednesday the purchase of the Brazilian Bexs, which works as a broker and a foreign exchange bank. The values ​​were not revealed.

• Bexs acts in the conversion of the values ​​of imported products in the national ecommerce and also in the processing of micropayments of social networks for Brazilian users.

• Americanas, TikTok and Ebanx (which processes payments for Spotify and AliExpress) are some of its clients.