Kesh, the Brazilian fintech founded by Marcelo Ramos and Marcelo Emmanuel Hermann, closed a US$110 million round. The resources will allow it to scale its emergency credit model with interest repayment.
The operation was led by Grupo Leste, the alternative asset manager founded by Emmanuel Hermann. Currently, the firm manages more than US$4 thousand. In addition, the round combined equity and financing through its own FIDC, with participation from BR Angels and strategic partners from Across Capital.
Kesh has been operating since April 2025. For Marcelo Ramos, it also represents his second major project. Previously, he founded Vee Benefícios, Brazil’s first flexible benefits wallet. The company was acquired by the French company Swile in 2021 and helped create a unicorn in the segment.
Kesh’s thesis starts from a simple premise. In Brazil, interest on emergency credit can reach 20% per month. Instead of trying to reduce that rate, Kesh returns the interest to the worker in the form of profits.
The B2B2C model connects the platform with the payrolls of companies that have between 500 and 5,000 employees. From this integration, workers can directly access credits. Additionally, approval takes about a minute.
How interest cashback works
Kesh offers a free payroll account and short-term emergency loans. The average ticket reaches R$650. In addition, workers can recover 100% of interest and commissions through cashback.
The benefit can be used in a network of more than 200 allied brands. Among them are Uber, Vivo, TIM, Claro, Bob’s and Netshoes. Kesh negotiates wholesale prices with these companies and generates income through trading commissions and payroll management.
According to the company, about 80% of users choose to convert interest into benefits when taking out credit. “No one helps anyone by lending money at 20% per month,” said Marcelo Ramos, founder and CEO of Kesh.
The proposal especially targets workers with incomes of up to five minimum wages. This is a segment that usually resorts to credit after exhausting other alternatives. Therefore, Kesh also seeks to address an issue that impacts the financial health of employees.
Furthermore, the company states that this situation directly affects companies. Debt can influence employee retention, productivity, and turnover.
Goal: one million users in three years
With the new resources, Kesh aims to grow from 37,000 current users to between 80,000 and 100,000 by the end of 2026. After that, the company aims to reach one million users in three years.
To achieve this, it will allocate capital to technology, marketing and expansion of the commercial team. At the same time, the FIDC itself will provide liquidity to finance the credit portfolio.
“We harness the potential of Kesh to transform the relationship between companies and their collaborators. Its solutions consolidate a new model of financial well-being that, we understand, can expand to other regions of Latin America and also to North America,” said Emmanuel Hermann, founder of Grupo Leste and member of the board of directors of Kesh.
