In 2024, Brazil recorded a historic high in the opening of small businesses, surpassing the mark of 4.15 million new registered companies, including individual microentrepreneurs (MEI), microenterprises (ME), and small businesses (EPP), according to a survey conducted by Sebrae based on data from the Federal Revenue Service. To assist with financial management, these new entrepreneurs now have a free platform that uses Artificial Intelligence and WhatsApp to automate payments to customers and suppliers. Recently launched, the fintech Jota is a financial assistant that allows users to manage their daily operations through audio messages, text, and images in an AI-based chat conversation, all via WhatsApp.
In addition to assisting small business managers, including informal workers, the developers’ proposal also aims to benefit individuals who have WhatsApp accounts for conducting everyday transactions.
In practice, Jota enables instant payments (Pix) and bill payments through audio, images, and text messages to one or multiple contacts via an automatic favorites list, as well as receiving or requesting payments via PIX QR Code in seconds, with no fees for the user. These functionalities are executed simply by chatting and asking whatever they want about their businesses, and entrepreneurs can receive valuable insights, such as financial calculations, daily revenue reports, and context-based recommendations tailored to individual needs.
Since Jota operates within WhatsApp, its tools ensure intuitive usability and eliminate the need for traditional banking apps. The free opening of Personal and Business accounts takes less than 3 minutes and is also done via chat.
The platform was founded by entrepreneur Davi Holanda, who has previously led projects in the two pillars of financial operations: in acquiring, as a former PagSeguro executive, where he led over 15 products and contributed to the NYSE IPO; and in the banking sector, as the founder and CEO of Bankly, developing a Banking as a Service (BaaS) that was acquired by Banco Votorantim in 2023.
Market opportunity
According to a survey conducted by CEAPE (Center for Support to Small Enterprises), 61% of Brazilian entrepreneurs in these profiles use notebooks to record their business revenues and expenses. Another 14.5% of respondents stated they use spreadsheets for this purpose, while 9.1% said they “keep track of everything in their heads.” 7.9% responded that they do not use any of the tools mentioned in the survey, and only 7% rely on support from an accounting office.
Given this scenario, and considering that millions of entrepreneurs and individuals neither have the time to manage their financial lives in notebooks or spreadsheets nor the means to invest in expensive software—and often do not receive adequate attention from traditional banking institutions—Jota’s revolutionary potential has sparked significant market interest.
“We saw a clear opportunity to create a platform that simplifies financial management and operations for entrepreneurs, whether individuals or businesses, and we are committed to helping them save time and money by developing solutions for daily operations, financial automation, and payment journeys to increase profitability,” shared Davi Holanda, co-founder and CEO.
The fintech also announced the completion of its $8.9 million Seed round, led by MAYA Capital, with participation from HOF Capital, BigBets, Alter Global, Bogari Capital, Norte Ventures, and angel investors such as Bebeto Nogueira, founder of Segura and Scout at a16z, Fersen and Mateus Lambranho, Mauro D’Ancona, founder of 180 Seguros, Bernardo Lustosa, partner at ClearSale, Dennis Wang, and Pedro Fiuza. The investment will support its expansion into a broader ecosystem, accelerate brand growth, and increase its customer base in Brazil.
“With this new investment round, we are committed to strengthening our technology, growth, and marketing teams to build a recognized brand across Brazil, a product that truly benefits entrepreneurs and drives customer base expansion. Additionally, we will initiate an essential receivables and payments agenda, addressing a critical need for entrepreneurs—and we are just getting started,” emphasized the entrepreneur.
According to Holanda, feedback has been extremely positive, with customers saving 10 hours of work per month by conducting hundreds of transfers in a practical and efficient manner. One of them commented: ‘Jota changed my financial life—it’s the kind of thing you didn’t know you needed. Since I’m always busy, this makes my life much easier. I just need to forward a WhatsApp message or send an audio, and Jota executes the Pix in seconds. In one month, I saved over R$500 in fees.
Monica Saggioro, co-founder of MAYA Capital, commented: “Jota solves a critical challenge (poor financial management) in the SME market, which moves billions of reais. This represents a huge opportunity, and Jota is perfectly positioned to seize it. The caliber, experience, and vision of the team are simply inspiring and elevate the company to another level. Our mission to support the best technical talent building startups pursuing unprecedented success in Latin America couldn’t be better represented than by Jota.”
The fintech’s vision is to simplify all aspects of financial management for Brazilian entrepreneurs who currently face excessive complexity with the products and apps available in the market—and it seems they are off to a great start.
