Cumbuca has launched a new proxy model that enables international financial services firms to fast-track their entry into Brazil’ s payments ecosystem by operating under its payment initiation license. umbuca, a Y Combinator startup backed by investors including

Lightspeed, has announced fasttrack 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.

Led by a team of Open Finance and payment experts, Cumbuca’ s investors include Lightspeed and Supera Capital.

With a forward-thinking Central Bank, a groundbreaking 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. Market entrants also face operational friction due to local compliance expectations, multi-layered onboarding rules and the challenge of adapting rapidly to Brazil’ s evolving payments environment.

As a consequence, even well-resourced organisations often experience significant delays when launching products tailored to Brazilian consumers and businesses.

To mitigate risks and accelerate their go-tomarket, many turn to Open Finance-as-a- Service( OFaaS) providers, companies providing ready-made infrastructure that allows customers to access, share and use financial data without building it themselves.

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