In August, Conduit – a cross-border payments fintech operating in more than 9 countries – received a $6 million investment from Helios Digital Ventures, the venture capital arm of Helios Investment Partners. With the investment, the company is driving its geographic expansion into Africa and strengthening its presence in Latin America, focusing on improving the speed and efficiency of transactions for its customers.
Bernardo Janot, Conduit's Manager, explains that the company's operations in Latin America aim to provide international payment solutions that surpass the limitations of local banking systems. "Although countries like Brazil have efficient systems for domestic transactions, international transfers are still costly and time-consuming. In partnership with local banks, the startup offers a faster and more economical process, allowing companies to send money in local currency, handling the transfer and currency conversion, thus ensuring transparency and lower costs for the recipient," he comments.
Last year, Conduit's annualized transaction volume exceeded $9 billion, with increasing value coming from Kenya and Nigeria, regions where it recently launched operations and which experienced a 25% month-over-month revenue growth. Reflecting these data, the fintech has an ambitious vision for its expansion in Africa and Asia. Ready to face the challenges of fragmented local currencies and complex connections, the company will invest in these new markets to achieve even greater profitability by the end of the year.
Local settlements are increasingly being built simultaneously, supported by cutting-edge technology. Companies demand a good experience when making global payments. Traditional methods often do not meet expectations. We are excited to support Conduit on its journey to serve more and better the South American and African ecosystems connected to the global economy, says Wale Ayeni, managing partner of Helios Digital Ventures, in a statement.
Changes in focus and expansion to Brazil
Originally launched as an API to connect fintechs, neobanks, and traditional financial institutions with crypto-backed earning products, Conduit shifted its focus after recognizing the pain points in B2B international payments of its own clients. Initially supported by $17 million in funding from investors such as Portage Ventures, Diagram Ventures, and Gradient Ventures, the startup developed tools for institutional investors based on decentralized finance (DeFi), enabling direct transactions between users.
Conduit CEO Kirill Gertman said: “Our mission is to make cross-border B2B payments better. Businesses should be able to convert currencies and settle payments with greater speed, lower costs and better visibility than what is possible with traditional payment rails. We are committed to enabling this functionality for businesses around the world, especially in fast-growing markets like Brazil.”
Globally, the fintech operates with more than 80 direct clients, including importing and exporting companies, payroll services, and other cross-border platforms. Based on the received investment, the pipeline should reach 25 clients with an estimated movement of approximately US$ 10 billion over the next 12 months, considering both continents, with US$ 1 billion in Brazil alone. A startup targets sectors such as agriculture, textiles, exporters, ports, CVs, and mainly fintechs interested in cross-border issuances, without the use of digital currencies.
