Ume, the Brazilian fintech founded by Theo Ramalho, raised US$95.9 million through Credit Rights Investment Funds (FIDCs). The demand exceeded the volume offered. In addition, institutions such as Itaú, Bradesco, XP (Augme), Milenio, Verde and Credit Saison participated.
The operation comes a few months after another raising of US$28.8 million through a FIDC. Milenio Capital structured both vehicles. The manager, specialized in structured credit, has been with Ume since its inception.
Ume works as a credit infrastructure for retailers, e-commerce platforms and service companies. Thus, its partners can offer financing without building their own financial structure. The company provides the platform, AI credit analysis and access to capital.
Native AI from a doctoral thesis
Ume was born from academic research on artificial intelligence applied to credit. Its CTO, Berthier Ribeiro-Neto, founded Akwan, a Brazilian search company that Google acquired. Subsequently, he led the company’s engineering area for 20 years.
Based on that experience, Ume incorporated AI at different stages of credit. Its agents participate in concessions, pricing, collections and customer service. Therefore, retailers can operate on a larger scale without building their own equipment for each process.
“It would be impossible to offer our level of service if we had not been born AI natives,” said Theo Ramalho, co-founder of Ume. According to the company, its model can increase its partners’ sales by up to 15% and double their profits.
An operation that continues to grow
Currently, Ume operates in 10,000 points of sale and serves nearly 4 million consumers in Brazil. In addition, it plans to process US$383.6 million in transactions during 2026.
The company also estimates that the US$95.9 million raised could generate more than US$191.8 million in additional income for companies that use its infrastructure. In this way, the capital not only expands Ume’s credit capacity, but also the reach of its partner network.
With this model, fintech combines artificial intelligence and access to capital markets. Thus, it seeks to solve one of the main limitations of small and medium-sized retailers: offering credit without assuming the cost of building and operating their own financial infrastructure.
