The archive · Money & Fintech · Product decision · 2018–2026
QI Tech bets non-banks rent licensed credit rails; Brazil's only 2024 unicorn
QI Tech sells credit, account and anti-fraud APIs so Shopee and Vivo act like banks; $200M Series B in 2023, unicorn in 2024, R$2B 2026 revenue target.
QI Tech
What the business is
A full-stack financial-infrastructure platform: modular APIs for onboarding, credit scoring, digital accounts, Pix, payments and anti-fraud, wrapped in a Direct Credit Society (SCD) licence so non-banks can embed financial products.
Starting capital：$262M raised through the Oct 2023 Series B (GIC-led $50M Series A in 2021, $200M General Atlantic-led Series B), plus a $50M extension in 2024 and $63M in Jul 2025
How it started
Pedro Mac Dowell, Marcelo Bentivoglio and Marcelo Buosi founded QI Tech in São Paulo in 2018 and bootstrapped it — profitable from its first year — until November 2021, when GIC led a $50M Series A. The founding thesis, in Mac Dowell's words: any company should be able to act like a bank toward its customers, employees or suppliers, and no one offered a full suite combining modern modular tech with a real licence.
What happened
QI Tech acquired KYC and anti-fraud engine Zaig in December 2021 and banking-app developer Builders Bank in 2023, then closed a $200M Series B led by General Atlantic in October 2023 — reported as Brazil's largest round that year — bringing total funding to $262M. First-half 2023 net revenue was $21.2M, up 89% year on year; the 300-plus customers included Shopee, Vivo Telefónica and 99, charged pay-as-you-go per transaction; headcount grew from 50 to 120 in a year. A $50M extension in 2024, again with General Atlantic and Across Capital, pushed the valuation past $1B — making QI Tech the only Brazilian startup to reach unicorn status in 2024. It reported R$700M revenue for 2024, added a $63M extension in July 2025, and by then served 400-plus enterprise clients including QuintoAndar.
How it ended up
Running and expanding under founder control: 2026 plans include a Nasdaq IPO around mid-2027 at a hoped-for $15B valuation, up to R$4B for acquisitions, an insurance push and the Autobanking purchase to enter automotive credit.
Background
QI Tech is a Brazilian financial-infrastructure company founded in São Paulo in 2018 by CEO Pedro Mac Dowell, CFO Marcelo Bentivoglio and COO Marcelo Buosi. The founders bootstrapped it profitable from the first year and took a GIC-led $50M Series A only in November 2021, betting that companies like telecoms and e-commerce sites would want to offer credit, accounts and payments to their own customers without becoming banks.
The product is modular, licensed infrastructure: APIs for onboarding, credit scoring, digital accounts, Pix, payments and anti-fraud, held together by an SCD licence that QI Tech says was the first approved by Brazil's Central Bank. By October 2023 it had more than 300 clients — Shopee, Vivo Telefónica and 99 among them — on per-transaction fees, reported $21.2M in first-half 2023 net revenue (up 89% year on year), and raised a $200M Series B led by General Atlantic, reported as Brazil's largest round that year.
A $50M extension in 2024 made it a unicorn — the only Brazilian startup to reach that status in 2024 — and it reported R$700M revenue for the year. In July 2025 it added $63M more (400-plus clients by then), and in June 2026 CEO Mac Dowell told Bloomberg Línea the company processes R$9–10B in credit monthly, targets roughly R$2B revenue in 2026, plans a Nasdaq IPO around mid-2027 at a hoped-for $15B valuation, and has up to R$4B for acquisitions.
What has to be true
- Brazil's embedded-finance wave was the wedge: non-banks that owned customer relationships wanted to lend and bank their users, but licences and compliance blocked them.
- Bootstrapping and staying profitable from year one let the founders acquire Zaig and Builders Bank with cash and keep control before taking General Atlantic's capital.
- The SCD licence turned regulation into a product feature — a 'tech company that holds the bank licence' — a moat pure fintechs and traditional banks could not copy quickly.
What can be applied
Sell the licensed plumbing instead of outspending banks for consumers: regulation becomes a moat, and profitability from year one lets founders buy capability rather than beg for runway.
Aftermath
As of September 2026, QI Tech is scaling under founder control: it targets 60–70% annual growth, projects about R$2B revenue for 2026, and says its lending unit processes R$9–10B in credit monthly, reaching roughly 20 million Brazilians. In June 2026 CEO Pedro Mac Dowell told Bloomberg Línea the company plans a Nasdaq IPO around mid-2027 at a hoped-for $15B valuation, backed by up to R$4B for acquisitions. It has applied for its own insurance licence after moving R$240M in premiums via partners, and in July 2026 bought vehicle-financing platform Autobanking to enter automotive credit.
Sources
- Brazilian fintech QI Tech lands $200M led by General Atlantic
- Após virar unicórnio, QI Tech quer se tornar a próxima big tech do Brasil
- QI Tech secures $63M Series B extension
- Unicórnio brasileiro QI Tech mira IPO e prepara ofensiva de R$ 4 bilhões em aquisições
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