NuBank, the Latin American-based neobank, is reported to be actively considering going public with a $2 billion IPO at the NASDAQ exchange and it is reported that it has started talks with investment advisors and banks as well, in this regard.
It is by far the largest digital bank in Brazil which has steadily grown its userbase over the years and currently boasts a massive user base of over 34 million in Brazil alone. It had raised $400 million in its Series G funding round which increased its valuation to over $25 billion. One of its biggest investors has been Warren Buffett, who himself has invested $500 million in the bank so far and fully backs its growth and expansion. This seems to be a wise choice as the Latin American market is expected to boom in the coming years as the penetration of digital banking is comparatively less in this region as compared to the US or Europe and in such vast developing countries as those in this region, digital banking is likely to be the only way to reach out to the customers in remote locations who would otherwise be unbanked.
It should also be noted that NuBank had recently invested in Series B funding round of a large NeoBank in India called Jupiter which means that the bank is not going to restrict itself to the Latin American region but is likely to eye growth and expansion in other large developing countries either by entering such countries directly or through investments. Such massive rounds of investments from large investors not only raise its valuations to be on par with that of Robinhood and other major companies but also gives it a lot of muscle for investments and acquisitions of other similar financial firms as a means of expansion.
The bank is expected to go for the IPO by the end of the year or early next year as it looks to expand its wings into Mexico and Columbia as well. The company was founded in 2013 and started with issuing credit cards as a means of building trust between the bank and the customers. Once the trust was established and users began to establish a good credit history with the bank, they would then be offered savings accounts, debit cards, and other products which have helped the bank to grow over the years slowly and steadily.
