Brex

Last updated
Brex Inc.
Company type Private
Industry Fintech
FoundedJanuary 3, 2017;7 years ago (January 3, 2017)
Founders
  • Henrique Dubugras
  • Pedro Franceschi
HeadquartersNo headquarters [1]
Key people
  • Henrique Dubugras
  • (Chairman)
  • Pedro Franceschi
  • (CEO)
[2]
Number of employees
Approximately 1,200 (2024) [3]
Website brex.com

Brex Inc. is an American financial service and technology company that offers business credit cards and cash management accounts to technology companies. [4] Brex cards are business charge cards, which require at least $50,000 in a bank account if professionally invested, if not with $100,000 to open, and cardholders who default won't damage their personal credit or assets. [5] Emigrant Bank issues the Brex cards. [6]

Contents

History

Brex was founded by Brazilian entrepreneurs Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi on January 3, 2017. They had previously founded an online payments company, Pagar.me, before selling it to Stone. [7] [8] [9]

Brex did not start as a fintech startup but rather as a VR startup, however the founders pivoted the company three weeks into Y Combinator's 12-week accelerator program. [10]

In February 2021, the company announced a submission application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions (UDFI) to establish an industrial bank named Brex Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brex. According to TechCrunch , the subsidiary appointed a former Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) executive as CEO. [6]

In April 2022, Brex launched Brex Empower, a financial software platform to help people comply with their employers' expense policies. [11] In June 2022, Brex exited the small and midsize businesses (SMB) market, shifting the company's focus to serving enterprise customers. [12] In August 2022, Brex named Doug Adamic as the company's new chief revenue officer. [13]

According to CNBC, Brex received billions of dollars in deposits from SVB customers on March 9, 2023—a day prior to SVB's collapse. [14] The following year, CNBC ranked Brex fourth on its 2024 Disruptor 50 list. [15]

In January 2024, Brex announced that it was laying off 300 of its employees, or roughly 20% of its workforce. The company cited slowing growth as a reason for the decision. [16]

Growth

Brex Inc. is backed by Peter Thiel, Ribbit Capital, Y Combinator, DST Global, Kleiner Perkins, Lone Pine Capital, and Greenoaks. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [6]

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References

  1. ↑ Calvey, Mark (19 August 2021). "Exclusive: Brex joins Coinbase in embracing no-headquarters model". American City Business Journals.
  2. ↑ "Fintech Brex abandons co-CEO model, talks IPO, cash burn and plans for a secondary sale". 12 June 2024.
  3. ↑ "Tech finance co Brex downsizes". 31 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "Brex Small Business Card: If Square Could Work, Is There Potential Here?". PaymentsJournal. 2018-06-19. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  5. ↑ "Home". upgradepoints.com. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 Azevedo, Mary Ann. "Brex applies for bank charter, taps former Silicon Valley Bank exec as CEO of Brex Bank". TechCrunch.
  7. ↑ Schoenberg, Gregg (8 November 2018). "Charge card startup Brex aims for decacorn success" . TechCrunch.
  8. ↑ "StoneCo. Ltd. Form F-1". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  9. ↑ "StoneCo. Ltd. Form 6-K/A". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  10. ↑ Rudgeair, Peter (5 October 2018). "The College Dropouts Who Rode Credit Cards Into The Billion-Dollar Startup Club" . The Wall Street Journal.
  11. ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (2022-04-13). "Fintech Brex bets big on software, lands DoorDash as a customer". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  12. ↑ Lawler, Ryan (2022-06-17). "Scoop: Brex exiting SMB market to focus on enterprise customers". Axios. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  13. ↑ Brex. "Brex Names Doug Adamic as Chief Revenue Officer". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  14. ↑ Son, Hugh (March 10, 2023). "Fintech startup Brex got billions of dollars in Silicon Valley Bank deposits Thursday, source says". CNBC.
  15. ↑ "4. Brex". CNBC. May 14, 2024. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  16. ↑ Robison, Kylie (23 January 2024). "Brex, the fintech giant valued at $12.3 billion, announced it will lay off 20% of its staff". Fortune.
  17. ↑ "About Us - Brex". brex.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2023-03-12. Brex is backed by Y Combinator, Kleiner Perkins, DST Global, PayPal co-founders Max Levchin and Peter Thiel, Lone Pine Capital, and fintech specialist Ribbit Capital.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. ↑ "CFOs Will Get Their Own AI Chatbot as Part of Brex Project". Bloomberg.com. 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2023-03-12. Brex, a six-year-old startup backed by Tiger Global and PayPal Holdings Inc. co-founders Max Levchin and Peter Thiel, is valued at more than $12 billion and counts companies such as DoorDash Inc. and Airbnb Inc. among its clients.
  19. ↑ Kruppa, Miles (2021-04-02). "Publicity-shy VC firm Greenoaks has bumper year". Financial Times. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  20. ↑ Insider. "Brex's $57 Million Pitch Deck | Insider". www.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2023-03-12. Brex already has more than 1,000 customers signed up with the help of backing from investors including PayPal co-founders Peter Thiel and Max Levchin, early Facebook investor Yuri Milner, former Visa CEO Carl Pascarella, and esteemed startup incubator Y Combinator.
  21. ↑ "Fintech Startup Brex Collects $50 Million Series B". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-03-12.


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