The archive · Money & Fintech · Product decision · 2018–2026
Conta Simples bets Brazil's SMEs want corporate cards with expense control; 2M cards
Brazilian corporate-card and expense-management fintech: Series B led by Base10, breakeven in 2023, R$2.4B moved in H1 2025 and 1M+ cards issued
Conta Simples
What the business is
Brazilian corporate-card and expense-management fintech: companies get physical and virtual cards with per-card limits, automated expense tracking and a digital account, and Conta Simples is licensed as a Direct Credit Society to add credit.
Starting capital：R$121M Series A in 2022 (partly used to buy ad-tech startup Hackr Ads), then a US$41.5M (R$200M+) Series B led by Base10 Partners in January 2024.
How it started
Founded in Brazil in 2018 by Rodrigo Tognini (CEO), a Y Combinator-backed company. The pain it attacked: small businesses paid expenses out of pocket and reconciled receipts manually, while corporate cards with control and automation were built for large companies, leaving SMEs stuck in reimbursement chaos.
What happened
In 2022 the company raised a R$121M Series A and used part of it to acquire online-ads startup Hackr Ads. 2023 was its "best year": roughly 3x revenue growth, a move from negative margin to breakeven, and a Central Bank license to operate as a Direct Credit Society, unlocking credit, digital accounts and payments. In January 2024 it raised a US$41.5M Series B led by Base10 Partners, planning about 100 new hires and a move upmarket, at 30,000 active users, 500,000 cards issued and R$18B in total payment volume.
How it ended up
Still running and scaling: by August 2025 Conta Simples was moving R$2.4B in corporate-card transactions in H1 2025 across about 30,000 client companies, issued 165,000 new cards in six months (+140%), passed 1M cards issued in total, and was pushing further into credit for SMEs.
Background
Conta Simples is a Brazilian corporate-card and expense-management fintech founded in 2018 by Rodrigo Tognini, aimed at small and medium businesses drowning in manual expense reports and reimbursement chaos.
The wedge was the workflow: instead of selling a card alone, Conta Simples sold expense control — per-card limits, categories, receipt tracking — so the corporate card arrived as the payment rail attached to software finance teams already wanted. Virtual cards for online ads became a breakout use case.
The model proved out between 2022 and 2024: a R$121M Series A, roughly 3x revenue growth in 2023, a move from negative margin to breakeven, a Central Bank license as a Direct Credit Society, and a US$41.5M Series B led by Base10 Partners in January 2024, when it had 30,000 active users, 500,000 cards and R$18B in total payment volume.
By August 2025 the company was moving R$2.4B in corporate-card transactions in the first half alone, issued 165,000 new cards (+140% year over year), passed 1M cards in total across about 30,000 client companies, and was expanding its credit products for SMEs.
What has to be true
- SMEs were structurally ignored: corporate cards with control and automation were built for large companies, leaving a proven pain — reimbursement chaos — unserved in the middle market.
- Software came first: selling expense management made the card an attachment, so adoption was driven by finance teams' workflow needs, not by card marketing.
- A Central Bank license turned the card company into a lender: the SCD license opened credit, deposits and payments without a full banking build.
- Virtual cards for online ads and infoproducers gave a repeatable wedge segment that grew issuance 140% in six months.
What can be applied
Bundle the boring job with the payment rail: selling expense control first made the corporate card the natural checkout, and software-led distribution built R$18B of volume before credit arrived.
Aftermath
As of September 2026 Conta Simples is live and scaling: about 30,000 corporate clients, more than 1M cards issued, R$2.4B moved in H1 2025 alone, breakeven since 2023 and a US$41.5M Series B (January 2024) behind expansion upmarket. The company is pushing beyond expense management into credit — working capital advances for SMEs — using its Direct Credit Society license, and reported doubling its share of Brazilian corporate-card transactions during 2025.
Sources
- Conta Simples grabs another $41.5M for its expense management approach in Brazil
- Cartões empresariais ultrapassam R$ 2 bilhões em movimentação no semestre
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe what you are building, and see who is betting on the same thing.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card