QI Tech — the fintech of banking as a service — has just raised an extension of its Series B, placing an additional US$50 million in cash at a valuation exceeding US$1 billion.
The fundraising was done with General Atlantic, which had already led the previous capitalization, of US$ 200 million.
CEO Pedro Mac Dowell told Brazil Journal that in the previous round QI Tech had been valued at close to US$1 billion — and that now the valuation “greatly surpassed” this milestone.
He does not open the valuation, but says it was closer to US$ 1.5 billion.
QI Tech decided to raise more money now — just six months after the last round — because it has already spent a significant part of the resources it had raised on the purchase of Singulare, the trust administrator with more than R$100 billion in custody.
“We also want to do other M&As in this next cycle and for that we will need more capital,” said the CFO Marcelo Bentivoglio.
QI Tech offers the complete infrastructure for companies that want to provide financial services to their customers. Vivo Money, for example, was created 100% based on the startup’s technology, which allows it to offer banking (such as PIX, current account and cards), loans, structuring and administration of FIDCs, and even anti-fraud solutions.
“Our difference is that we have everything in one place,” said the CEO, adding that QI Tech has several competitors at various stages of the chain.
“In banking as a service, we compete with Dock. In fiduciary administration, with Oliveira Trust and Vórtx. In anti-fraud, with Idwall and Unico. In count escrow, with FitBank and Iugu,” he said. “But none of these companies are on all fronts like us.”
QI Tech has more than 400 clients, most of them large companies. In addition to Vivo, it serves 99, which started offering loans to its users and drivers, and QuintoAndar, which is testing a rent advance and credit solution using properties as collateral.
The fintech had revenues of R$220 million last year with an EBITDA of around R$150 million, a margin of 68%.
This year, the goal is to earn R$700 million with an EBITDA of R$400 million (a slightly lower margin of 57%).
A relevant part of this growth will come from the incorporation of Singulare, which had revenues of R$300 million last year and an EBITDA of R$80 million. “But we will also deliver strong organic growth for both companies and make new M&As,” said the CFO.
Mac Dowell said the M&As strategy is important because QI Tech can do ‘multiple arbitrage’.
“We are adding products, customers and revenue to our business at a much lower multiple than ours. And when we bring that in with our multiple, we already create a lot of value,” he said.
The CEO gave the example of Singulare, which operates in an industry that typically trades at multiples of 7x to 10x EV/EBITDA. QI Tech operates in a sector that trades at multiples of 17x to 30x.
“The big strategy on this front is to ‘trade’ the multiples,” he said. “But of course we have to find companies that have solid results, strong growth and are well managed.”
According to him, the objective is to buy both companies in segments in which QI Tech already operates – to strengthen these verticals – and companies on other fronts.
Fintech is studying, for example, entering acquiring, foreign exchange and insurance, expanding its range of offers.
“For our customers to be able to compete with traditional banks’ credit offerings, they must have a complete basket of products. This alone will allow them to use the same strategy as banks, which is to be more aggressive in one product and compensate with others.”
Pedro Arbex
