Brazilian fintech firm Marvin has secured $15 million in Series A financing, led by U.S. venture capital firm Canaan. Founded in 2020, Marvin is a B2B payment platform that allows merchants to use credit card receivables as collateral for working capital or short-term loans. The merchant thus can bypass the anticipation fees charged by point-of-sale operators, which can be as high as 4%.
The fintech startup will use the money to grow its business, hire new employees and expand its service offering across Brazil.
Marvin is the most significant investment in Latin America by U.S.-based Canaan. Its General Partner Brendan Dickinson explains that when investing outside the U.S., they are looking for offers specifically tailored to the situation in their home market and for a team that has experience in what it does. He continues, “[Marvin’s team] has a deep understanding of the market itself; a team that builds something tailor-made for Brazil. It’s not something that would work in another market because that ecosystem doesn’t exist, but… Marvin is creating an entirely new asset class for supply chain financing that is generally cheaper for companies and less risky for suppliers. That should create an incredibly virtuous cycle. We see this again and again in liquid markets; if you bring liquidity to these markets, companies can overgrow.”
The opportunity to become a dominant player in the market Dickinson predicted that with the migration of more and more providers, Marvin would become the dominant platform for offering finance to small and medium-sized businesses. The fintech company was advised on the financing round by offshore law firm Carey Olsen. Alistair Russell, a partner at Carey Olsen, says the investment is “a sign of the rapid growth and interest in digital payments in Brazil.” He adds, “Marvin has the potential to become one of the most dynamic payment solutions for retailers across the country, and Carey Olsen is excited to see how the company performs in the coming months due to the successful Series A financing.”
