Cumbuca launches fast-track payments initiation access to Brazil’s booming financial services market

Cumbuca, a Y Combinator start-up backed by investors including Lightspeed, has launched to deliver fast-track direct access to the Brazilian financial services market. The company acts as a proxy for Brazil’s regulated payments ecosystem, giving international firms a faster route to market than securing their own license, which can take several years.

With a forward-thinking Central Bank, a ground-breaking instant payments system in Pix,
and a well-established Open Finance framework, Brazil is considered a global benchmark
for innovation in financial services. As a result, international businesses, including
technology leaders and payment providers, are looking to enter the market.

However, apart from securing appropriate licenses, these firms must also navigate ongoing
global diplomatic strains, such as the threat of US tariffs, which increases the exposure to
potentially ruinous regulatory changes.

Many enterprises seek to mitigate risk and accelerate their route to market by partnering
with Open Finance‑as‑a‑Service (OFaaS) providers. These providers supply pre‑configured infrastructure that enables clients to access, share, and operationalize financial data, as well as to initiate payments, without having to engineer these capabilities themselves on top of the Central Bank’s reference standards.

However, this model introduces a different kind of dependency. International businesses
become bound to each provider’s technical support function, policies, and operating
procedures, which can constrain autonomy, delay issue resolution, and ultimately weaken
operational effectiveness.

Cumbuca aims to change that. As the first proxy for Brazil’s regulated payments ecosystem
offering direct access to the Brazilian Central Bank, Cumbuca enables financial services
firms to build their own infrastructure under its payment initiation license, improving
operational control which allows them to better manage and optimize costs.

Daniel Ruhman, co-founder and CEO of Cumbuca, said: “There is immense opportunity for
forward-thinking businesses here in Brazil, but they need to access the market. Right now,
they have two choices: wait years for a license or surrender control to third-party providers.
We’re offering a third way: our customers can build the business they want in Brazil, while
we handle license compliance. We’re acting as a bridge between total control of their
operations and regulatory peace of mind.”

Cumbuca was one of the first companies in Brazil to apply for and obtain a payment initiation
service provider (PISP) license when it offered a consumer-focused product. Having been
through the process, Ruhman and the team saw how hard it was to secure a license, the
limitations of working with third-party providers and, most importantly, what Brazilian
consumers and businesses want from their financial products. They saw the potential market
opportunity for a proxy and refocused the company.

Ruhman said: “We’ve been on both sides of the market, delivering services for consumers
while wrestling with the challenges of establishing a financial services business. Our own frustrations with the status quo have led us to pivot Cumbuca, so that we can help
innovators remain compliant while they focus on building the infrastructure and products
Brazilians are looking for.”

Cumbuca has assembled a team of Open Finance and regulatory experts to ensure the
company not only evolves in line with rule changes but also contributes to industry
progression. Founders Ruhman, Bruno Cury and Pedro Castilho were among the youngest
statutory directors in Brazil’s financial sector when they first secured a license in 2022. Since
then, they have attracted some of the industry’s leading minds to the team, including:

● Gustavo Lino, Head of Policy, Legal and Compliance, Executive Director and former
President of INIT – the Brazilian Association of Payment Transaction Initiators and
board member of the Open Finance Association
● Ana Luisa Monteiro, CFO and an expert in Brazil’s financial markets
● Nic Marcondes, Director of Open Finance, the architect of the no-redirect payment
flow (JSR) and a key contributor to Brazil’s Open Finance framework for over 5 years

Ruhman added: “If we’re to offer our customers regulatory peace of mind, we need not only
to be aware of law changes, but be an active part of the community we’re helping to shape
and evolve. We’re fortunate to have a forward-thinking Central Bank here in Brazil, and
we’re building a team that will help Cumbuca’s clients thrive and the entire market become
more accessible.”

Mercedes Bent, Venture Partner at Lightspeed, said: “Brazil represents a significant
opportunity for forward-thinking, global firms, but they need local partners to help enable
their market presence. Cumbuca is ideally placed to meet that need: as our only investment
in Brazil, it has deep sector expertise, a team that understands exactly what their customers
are going through, and a unique position not just as a start-up, but as a source of Open
Finance knowledge.”

Cumbuca has also launched on Product Hunt and is live for people to vote on.