Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway invested USD 500 million in Brazil’s Nubank, giving the fast-growing fintech a big vote of confidence as it seeks to widen its footprint across Latin America. Nubank, best known as a credit card issuer, also said it raised an additional USD 250 million from a series of other investors.

The new investments give Nubank a USD 30 billion valuation, up from USD 25 billion at the time of its previous fundraising round, according to a source familiar with the situation. That would make the upstart bank worth just slightly less than Banco Santander Brasil SA, Brazil’s No. 3 bank, which has more than 2,000 branches.

Nubank, which has 40 million clients, said in a statement it plans to use the proceeds to fund its international expansion to Mexico and Colombia, launch new products and services and hire more employees. The arrival of such high-profile investors, who usually invest in publicly traded companies, gives a hint on how close Nubank is to a listing.

Earlier in April, Reuters reported that Nubank had initiated preparations for a US stock market listing which could come as early as this year, according to sources familiar with the matter.

BERKSHIRE BETS IN BRAZIL

Nubank is Warren Buffett’s second bet on a Brazilian financial startup. His Berkshire Hathaway also acquired a stake in payments company StoneCo Ltd almost three years ago, when it went public.

A highly concentrated financial market dominated by five banks, Brazil has been a hotbed for fintech growth. Online banking has reduced costs for newcomers and the central bank has created new rules to encourage competition, aiming at lower fees and interest rates for consumers.

Nubank’s USD 750 million new funding round is part of its series G fundraising round, which totaled USD 1.15 billion. An initial part of the series G-round was announced in January.

Other participants in the round included Sands Capital, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, MSA Capital, Advent’s Sunley House Capital, and Brazilian asset managers Verde Asset Management and Absoluto Partners.

First Published:Jun 10, 2021 3:12 PM IST