PayPal-Backed Ume Raises $15 Million to Expand Payment Network

Brazilian FinTech Ume has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round to expand its payment network and merchant services platform for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) on Pix.

The round was led by PayPal Ventures, the companies said in a Friday (Aug. 30) press release. Ume has also raised a $20 million FIDC debt facility, according to the release.

The company will use the new resources to expand into new regions and enhance its Pix capabilities, per the release.

“Our vision is to build a next-generation payment network and merchant services platform on Pix rails that provides Brazilians with more accessible and flexible payment methods and enables thousands of Brazilian SMBs to grow their businesses,” Berthier Ribeiro, co-founder and CEO of Ume, said in the release.

Ume currently offers its buy now, pay later (BNPL) product through a network of 6,000 merchants in Brazil and reaches more than 220,000 consumers, according to the release. Eighty-five percent of the purchases made using its consumer financing product are from repeat customers.

Now, the company is building a Pix-first payment network and merchant services platform that enables SMBs to offer additional payment options to their customers, the release said.

Since incorporating the Pix rail into its network in early 2023, Ume has grown its merchant base five times faster, seen consumer repeat rates grow three times higher and had default rates decline by 33%, per the release.

“By building its infrastructure on the public Pix rails, Ume is able to quickly scale up by instantly onboarding new merchants and consumers, as well as through expanded product offerings such as enabling certain consumers to purchase from merchants outside the Ume network, allowing them to buy both online and offline,” Ian Cox, investment partner at PayPal Ventures, said in the release.

Eighty-two percent of Brazilian consumers said Pix — which is Brazil’s instant-payment system — makes a positive or very positive impact on their lives, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence and Galileo collaboration, “Promising Payments: Digital Payments Gain Ground in Latin America.”

The report also found that 43% of Brazilian consumers use Pix daily, compared to the 29% who use credit cards and the 21% who use cash.