Former Nubank chief technology officer Vitor Olivier and Thiel Fellow‑honored founder Felipe Meneses announced Tuesday that their new venture, Decade, has closed a $85 million seed round – roughly R$440 million – the biggest seed financing ever recorded in Latin America. The round was led by Greenoaks Capital with participation from Benchmark and Diffusion Capital, among others.
Decade emerged from stealth with a bold promise: to create "a new generation of millionaires" by democratizing high‑touch financial advice. In Brazil, where more than 100 million people use digital banking, only about one‑third hold any investment assets and just 7 percent could sustain themselves in retirement. The founders see this gap as an opportunity to overhaul a market traditionally dominated by costly advisers whose compensation depends on product sales.
Meneses, who previously founded the AI startup Hyperplane before it was acquired by Nubank, explained that the platform will blend human expertise with artificial intelligence. Each client receives a senior adviser and a proprietary AI model that aggregates the user's entire financial picture via Open Finance, tracks spending, and continuously optimizes portfolio allocations. The company argues that this hybrid approach can outperform both standalone robo‑advisors and conventional advisory firms.
The investor roster underscores confidence in the thesis. Greenoaks has backed fintech leaders such as Stripe and Revolut, while Benchmark seeded Uber and Snap. Diffusion’s founder Victor Lazarte turned Wildlife Studios into Latin America’s largest gaming company before turning to venture capital. Their involvement signals belief that Brazil is fertile ground for AI‑powered financial services.
Critics note that Decade’s ambition is sizable for a startup still on a waitlist with no product launched. The $85 million injection dwarfs typical seed rounds in the region, and the firm must prove that its human‑plus‑AI model can deliver returns superior to cheaper robo‑advisor alternatives. Yet the market’s rapid adoption of AI tools and the country’s leading position in digital payments – Pix processes close to 100 billion transactions a year – provide a supportive backdrop.
Decade’s launch comes as U.S. venture firms increasingly pour capital into Brazilian AI ventures with socially resonant narratives. Earlier this year, Greenoaks and Benchmark made a similarly large seed investment in Pax, an AI public‑safety startup. Whether Decade can translate its manifesto and capital into tangible wealth for millions of Brazilians remains to be seen, but the company now has the backing to attempt it.
Este artículo fue escrito con la asistencia de IA.
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