Brazilian startup PayHop raised $2.2 million in a seed round to go towards helping the FinTech scale its business, which enables retailers to use credit card receivables as collateral for loans, according to reports.
The funding was led by Serasa Experian’s investment arm, with participation by Domo Invest and Citrino Gestão.
Founded in August 2020 by Eduardo Rossi, CEO, and Arthur Fontana, CTO, the startup allows retailers to get credit using card receivables as collateral.
“We are inserted in B2B credit. For suppliers, we work on issues related to requests that come to the commercial area and are denied. In that respect, the partnership with Serasa is perfect because it gives us access to 50,000 distributors throughout Brazil who sell to retailers. Like any B2B business, we have the acquisition cost, which is facilitated by Serasa’s base,” Rossi told The Rio Times.
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The Central Bank of Brazil’s adoption of a new regulation in June 2021 allowed for the registration, negotiation and trading of card receivables. The new law registers all card transactions in a central office that certifies the receivables as legitimate.
The creditor can then use the future payments as collateral for better credit rates and without having to pay upfront fees, according to reports.
PayHop’s rival in the new business space is Brazilian FinTech TruePay, which also came into play because of the new regulation.
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The first FinTech in Brazil to bring together suppliers and retailers on the same tech platform, PayHop also reduces the rate of delinquencies by backing payments by credit card sales receivables.