[{"jcr:title":"Fintech of Insper's former student raises R$ 1 billion in funding round","cq:tags_0":"tipos-de-conteudo:acontece-no-insper/alumni"},{"richText":"Amount announced by QI Tech is the largest of the year in Brazil. Student and alumni startups will account for at least 20% of total funding in the country in 2023","authorDate":"24/11/2023 16h22","madeBy":"Por","tag":"tipos-de-conteudo:acontece-no-insper/alumni","title":"Fintech of Insper's former student raises R$ 1 billion in funding round","variant":"image"},{"jcr:title":"transparente - turquesa - vermelho"},{"themeName":"transparente - turquesa - vermelho"},{"containerType":"containerTwo"},{"jcr:title":"Grid Container Section","layout":"responsiveGrid"},{"text":"[QI Tech](https://qitech.com.br/) , a fintech which has Marcelo Bentivoglio, a former student of Economics at Insper among its founders, announced this Tuesday, October 31st, the raising of around 1 billion BRL (200 million dollars) in an investment round led by the private equity manager General Atlantic, with participation of Across Capital, which is already a shareholder in QI Tech and is reinforcing its funding to the company.   This is the largest investment in a startup in Brazil announced so far in 2023. As a result, funds raised by companies owned by students and alumni of Insper add up to nearly 7.5 billion BRL since January 2021, according to data compiled by the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub. In total, there were 75 funding rounds during the period, involving 56 startups created by students and alumni. The estimate is that Insper’s entrepreneurship ecosystem will close this year with at least a 20% share of total funding carried out in the country — in 2022, this share was 9.6%.   The funding round announced today is series B, as investments intended for companies in the growth phase are known. QI Tech was founded in 2018 by Pedro Mac Dowell (current CEO of the company), Marcelo Bentivoglio (who holds the position of CFO) and Marcelo Buosi (COO). In 2021, the company raised 270 million BRL (50 million dollars at the exchange rate at the time), in a series A funding round led by the Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund (GIC). Series A is an investment aimed at businesses in the early stages of development.   QI Tech is a technology company for financial services. It offers a set of APIs (application programming interfaces) that allow any company to offer financial products to its customers. APIs are a series of rules and standards that enable different applications to communicate and share data and features.   “QI Tech is an infrastructure company for financial services. We have a complete platform, one-stop-shop. We offer end-to-end solutions in the credit journey, offering everything necessary for any company to become a bank,” says Bentivoglio. To become a bank, he explains, a company basically needs two things: money and a customer base. The rest — the technology and regulatory part — is the responsibility of QI Tech.   Vivo telecommunications company is one of QI Tech’s customers. The telecom company acts like a bank, for example, by providing credit to consumers who want to finance the purchase of a cell phone. All financial procedures — opening an account, credit approval, issuing bills and cards, billing, etc. — are carried out through the QI Tech platform.   The fintech currently has around 320 clients, from different sectors, and a team of 120 employees. On average, 2.4 million CPFs (Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers) pass through the QI Tech base per month. “We process 80 thousand credit transactions per day, which means around 800 million BRL in new credits each month. It will be around 10 billion BRL in 2023”, says Bentivoglio.   In addition to banking technology (banking as a service) and credit solutions (lending as a service), QI Tech offers anti-fraud systems (facial recognition, document analysis) and operates with custody and administration of investment funds. The company was the first in the country approved by the Central Bank as a Direct Credit Company (SCD), an institution authorized to carry out credit transactions through an electronic platform. And it became the first fintech to simultaneously receive the Securities Distributor license (DTVM), which allows it to act as a broker-dealer in the financial and capital markets.   With the funds raised in the new round of investments, QI Tech plans to acquire other companies to consolidate its position in the market. “We will seek partnerships with successful technology companies that have high-quality products. We are committed to strengthening QI Tech’s position as a market leader, strengthening our customer base and, possibly, our team,” says Bentivoglio. He explains that the fintech’s objective is to prepare for an initial public offering (IPO) in the next two or three years. “Until then, 2024 will be a year of consolidation, as interest rates still remain high, which makes the scenario challenging.”   From scholarship student to donor   Born in Campinas, Bentivoglio has lived in São Paulo since childhood. He took the undergraduate course in Economics at Insper from 2008 to 2012. “I was a scholarship student my entire life. In all schools, I had a scholarship. And I had the privilege of passing among the first in the Insper entrance exam, where I had a partial scholarship until I graduated,” says the alumnus. “Now I am a donor of the  [Scholarship Program](https://www.insper.edu.br/programadebolsas/)  and mentor for an Insper student.”   “Marcelo’s journey is an inspiring example of determination. Last year he was awarded the José Eduardo Ermírio de Moraes Award, which recognized his role as a leader in innovative projects that positively impact society and business”, says Ana Carolina Velasco, Institutional Relations Manager at Insper. “Marcelo is a testament to commitment and inspiration to our community and a shining example of the potential that the Scholarship Program achieves.”   Bentivoglio is often a guest speaker and teaches entrepreneurship and fintech classes at Insper. In addition, he contributes as a mentor to FOKS, the accelerator focused on startups created by Insper students and alumni. According to Bentivoglio, his proximity to Insper is a way of giving back what he received as a student. “I am very grateful for everything I experienced at the university. Today I am proud and extremely happy to be able to contribute whatever I can.”   The strength of Insper ecosystem   Data compiled by the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub indicate that, until September, companies created by Insper students and alumni accounted for 13.1% of funds raised during the year by the entire startup ecosystem in the country. As October data for the Brazilian market is not yet available, there is no way to accurately know Insper’s share after the funding announced by QI Tech.   “The expectation is that, with this QI Tech round, the share of Insper startups in Brazil will reach almost 25% of total funds raised this year. The Brazilian market, like the rest of the world, is less heated compared to recent years. Therefore, this funding of 1 billion BRL for QI Tech has a significant impact on the scenario”, says Thomaz Martins, coordinator of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub. “Even if other rounds of investment with significant amounts are announced by the end of the year, it is unlikely that Insper’s share of total funding in Brazil will be below 20% in 2023”, he predicts.   For Martins, the increase in the share of Insper ecosystem companies in the total funding is due to their ability to continue generating value even in scenarios of uncertainty. “Startups founded by Insper students and alumni already had a history of raising above-average amounts,” observes Martins. “Insper entrepreneurs have been able to demonstrate the value of their businesses and build companies with solid proposals, which keeps them resilient even in the face of market downturns.”   Startups in the Insper ecosystem operate in various sectors, from finance (such as Remessa Online, Conta Simples), e-commerce (Evino, Shopper) and health (Vittude, Alice) to agribusiness (A de Agro), mobility (E-Moving, Mottu ) and corporate benefits (Caju). Although businesses created by students and graduates of Administration and Economics courses prevail, there is a growing number of ventures by students and alumni of Engineering and MBA programs.   Martins highlights the role of the entrepreneurship track, which offers more than 20 subjects, available for all programs, and helps to disseminate best business practices throughout the school. “Furthermore, I believe that there is a long-standing factor at Insper, which has the mission of training leaders to be protagonists and transform Brazil. This helps to train people with entrepreneurial skills, regardless of the program they take.”"}]