- On average, the fintech gains 40,000 new customers every day;
- According to the company, growing at this rate is a matter of choice.
The Brazilian neobank Nubank released an analysis of its 2019 financial results amid the Carnival holiday. Last year, the fintech, which also has operations in Mexico and Argentina, saw its revenue double, to BRL 2.1 billion, and the number of customers tripled, to 19.7 million, compared to 2018.
“The average of 40 thousand new customers per day demonstrates the scalability of our infrastructure, designed from the beginning to allow excellence in product and service even on a large scale,” says Nubank on its blog.
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From one year to the next, however, Nubank’s net loss also increased: from BRL 100.3 million to BRL 313 million. Why? The rapid pace of expansion led to an increase in operating expenses.
If Nubank had kept the previous pace, the adjusted result for 2019 would be positive–but again, these are choices
It was last year that Nubank raised BRL 400 million in venture capital, through a Series F round led by the American fund TCV, with the participation of Tencent, DST Global, Sequoia Capital, Dragoneer, Ribbit Capital and Thrive Capital.
It is this money that is being invested in the internationalization of the company and in the growth of Nubank as a whole, through the launch of new products: from corporate accounts to personal loans.
This diversification of the product basket was also possible because the fintech obtained, in early 2019, a license to be a financial institution. Today, over 500 thousand customers have access to Nubank’s personal loan.
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In May last year, Nubank announced that it was arriving in Mexico. The first fintech’s product launched there was its credit card Nu–in beta phase till today. Some months later, the fintech announced its arrival in Argentina.
The slower pace in the two Latin American countries has a reason: the development of products and services aimed at these two new markets. For now, the Brazilian fintech preferred to set up “technology and innovation hubs” to develop local solutions for Mexico and Argentina.
Although it did not mention it on its blog, Nubank is also investing in talent acquisition. In January this year, the fintech announced the purchase of the consultancy Plataformatec, focused on software engineering and agile methodologies. The purpose of the acquisition was to bring 50 new professionals to Nubank’s team at once.
