Nov 17 (Reuters) – Brazilian financial technology company CloudWalk said on Wednesday it was valued at $2.15 billion after a funding round led by Coatue, an investment firm focused on companies in the technology, media and telecommunications space.<\/p>\n
The shift to online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic and an internet boom has led to Latin America becoming a hotbed for fintech growth.<\/p>\n
The company, whose platform integrates blockchain and artificial intelligence, said the $150 million round also saw participation from investment firms DST Global, A-Star, The Hive Brazil, Plug and Play Ventures as well as Valor Capital Group.<\/p>\n
The round brought the total capital raised to $365 million.<\/p>\n
Gokul Rajaram, an angel investor who sits on the boards of Coinbase Global Inc and Pinterest Inc, and footballers Larry Fitzgerald and Kelvin Beachum also participated in the round.<\/p>\n
CloudWalk said it would use the funds to invest in its product portfolio and for hiring. It also expects to use the funds for international expansion, with plans to roll out the platform in U.S. and Europe within the next two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the global payments market rapidly evolves, we believe that blockchain will soon become the dominant source for all future payment processes,\u201d said Luis Silva, founder and chief executive officer.<\/p>\n
Sao Paulo-based CloudWalk\u2019s platform processes more than $2.4 billion worth of transactions annually, according to its website.<\/p>\n
In another move suggestive of the fintech boom in Latin America, Brazilian online lender Nubank was targeting a valuation of more than $50 billion for its U.S. initial public offering, which would make it more valuable than the country\u2019s largest traditional lender Itau Unibanco Holding SA.<\/p>\n