Business

Brazil-based unicorn Creditas' new bet is insurance: The fintech buys Minuto Seguros

The deal strengthens Creditas' car business, which now provides credit with vehicle warranty, financing, buying and selling, and insurance

Sergio Furio, CEO and Founder at Creditas. Photo: Courtesy
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Brazil‘s fintech unicorn Creditas announced on Wednesday the acquisition of Minuto Seguros, a digital insurance startup in Brazil, to strengthen its product ecosystem and have a new business vertical. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

With the transaction, the unicorn company that was born focused on secured lending using three collateral types: real estate (Creditas home equity), vehicles, and salary, now also encompasses buying and selling secondhand cars, consumer solutions, and insurance.

The founder of Minuto Seguros, Marcelo Blay, becomes a partner of Creditas and Vice President of the new insurance unit of Creditas. He will continue as Minuto’s CEO. Redpoint eVentures, a shareholder of Creditas and Minuto, remains a partner in the unicorn company.

READ ALSO: Creditas revenue rose 56% in 2020’s Q4 surpassing BRL 100 million

Minuto Seguros has 160,000 customers and does real-time quotes with more than 15 partner insurers, digital contracting, after-sales management, digital renewal, and claims management. The startup has a team of 350 employees who now join Creditas, which reaches the 2,500 employees.

According to Creditas, the operation has synergies with the other three ecosystems already offered by the company, which contemplate cars, real estate, and salary, enabling customers to manage their assets on a single platform.

READ ALSO: Brazil’s Creditas acquires Bcredi to boost its real estate vertical

For Creditas, the integration mainly strengthens cars’ business avenue. The company will be able to offer, within the same app, credit with vehicle warranty, financing, purchase, sale and exchange, and now, insurance.

READ ALSO: Creditas invests nearly BRL 100 million in Brazilian electric motorbikes manufacturer Voltz

“I have been following the movements in the digital insurance market since 2012 when Minuto Seguros raised its first investment round and I was always excited about the possibility of creating a complete platform that brought together credit and insurance. So we realized our dream of offering a digital platform where customers can do everything they need for their car: buy, sell, trade, finance, take out credit and insurance. All in a single place,” said Sergio Furio, Founder, and CEO of Creditas, in a press release.

Earlier this year, Creditas acquired Brazil’s startup Bcredi, a digital platform focused on real estate financing.

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