Launched in 2017, fintech credit card Brex is already chasing a $2bn valuation

Aimed at startup founders, Brex has quickly become a hot property in Silicon Valley.

Brex, the US credit card aimed at startup founders, is reportedly raising its series D funding round according to TechCrunch and is chasing a $2bn valuation according to Bloomberg.

Launched just 24 months ago by Brazilian entrepreneurs Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi, Brex has soared in value.

The company emerged from Y Combinator and has raised a total of $282.1m from VC and debt funding, in October raising $125m from DST Global and Greenoaks Capital at a $1.1bn valuation.

Its pitch is a corporate credit card aimed at startups, without annual fees and without requiring a personal guarantee or security deposit.

By targeting a credit-hungry market of entrepreneurs—and by capitalising on Y Combinator’s network of startups as its first customers—Brex has quickly become a hot property in Silicon Valley, and star investor Kleiner Perkins is said to be one of the investors eyeing up the company.

Because it doesn’t ask for a personal guarantee or security deposit, Brex’s lending criteria is based on each startup’s funding data and bank account deposits, which Brex monitors.

If a startup’s cash falls below a certain level Brex shuts down their card.

Since raising $100m in debt funding from Barclays in April Brex has been aggressively marketing its card using rather traditional methods, including billboards and bus stop ads around San Francisco.