Business

Brazilian ERP Omie acquires digital bank Linker for BRL 120 million

With the acquisition, the SaaS management platform expands its banking, credit, and payment services portfolio focused on small and medium enterprises

Omie, a Brazilian management platform, receives a BRL 580 million round led by SoftBank — Photo: Omie/Facebook

LABS

17.Nov.2021 15:32 BRT

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Following the BRL 580 million round raised from SoftBank Latin American Fund in August, Omie, a Brazilian cloud-based SaaS ERP platform focused on mid-sized companies, has just announced its fourth and largest acquisition: the digital bank Linker, for which it invested BRL 120 million. By the deal, Omie incorporates Linker’s full operation.

The acquisition comes at a time when competition between digital banks, fintechs, and traditional banks is heating up. They now compete not only for individual customers but also for small and medium-sized businesses – precisely Linker’s focus.

Founded in 2019, the digital bank offers financial services and banking solutions (such as digital accounts, credit cards, and payment management) to more than 30,000 small and medium-sized businesses. Linker also partners with more than 100 accounting firms.

The purchase is strategic for building Omie’s ecosystem and customer engagement. In addition to offering a more robust solution, by assuming Linker’s operation Omie will expand the digital bank’s current account and financial services customer base, which are potential ERP customers. Thus, Omie expands its target market and enhances its customer loyalty strategy.

This synergy was a key factor for the deal. “We have always believed that financial services and management software are on a convergence path, and that ‘ERP is the new Internet Banking’. We found in Linker a product perfectly designed for this purpose and a first-rate team,” said Marcelo Lombardo, Omie’s co-founder and CEO.

Focusing on the SMBs needs, Linker saw its operation skyrocket during the pandemic. According to the company, between July last year and June 2021, the volume traded on the fintech platform increased 15 times. Credit card transactions have increased four times this year.

“Since Linker’s beginning, we have seen that today’s small businesses demand financial solutions that go beyond the traditional banking model. With Omie, we have a complementary offering. It is the ideal partner to offer a complete and integrated solution to the ecosystem of Legal Entities,” said David Mourão, founder and CEO of the digital bank.

Linker acquisition is the third one made by Omie in 2021, following the Series C led by SoftBank. In September, the platform bought Devi Tecnologia, a sales software solutions company; and in October, it acquired G-Click, a web tool for accounting offices to optimize the management of tasks, indicators, and teams. Last year, Omie also acquired Mintegra, a solution that connects marketplaces and e-commerces to management systems.

Founded in 2013, Omie plans to end the year with almost 100,000 clients. The company had been selling its integrated management service and financial products to companies with average revenues of around BRL 10 million per year. With the pandemic, it began to seek customers with revenues of up to BRL 200 million, competing in a market served by giants such as the German SAP.