QI Tech押注非银行机构租用持牌信贷轨道；巴西2024年唯一独角兽

做的是什么生意

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.

启动资金：$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

起因

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.

经过

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.

结果

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.

可借鉴之处

向非银行机构出售持牌金融基础设施，而不是在消费端与银行烧钱竞争：监管成为护城河，而首年即盈利让创始人可以购买能力，而不必乞求资金。