FEATURE progression. Founders Ruhman, Bruno Cury and Pedro Castilho were among the youngest statutory directors in Brazil’ s financial sector when they first secured a license in 2022.
Since then, they have attracted some of the industry’ s leading minds to the team, including:
• Gustavo Lino, Head of Policy, Legal and Compliance, Executive Director and former President of INIT – the Brazilian Association of Payment Transaction Initiators and board member of the Open Finance Association
• Ana Luisa Monteiro, CFO and an expert in Brazil’ s financial markets
• Nic Marcondes, Director of Open Finance, the architect of the no-redirect payment flow( JSR) and a key contributor to Brazil’ s Open Finance framework for over 5 years
The Proxy Model Explained
Cumbuca’ s proxy model allows international organisations to operate under the company’ s PISP license while retaining full control over their architecture, user experience and long-term strategy.
Unlike outsourcing or traditional OFaaS relationships, the proxy structure does not require firms to relinquish ownership of their technology stack. Instead, it provides a regulated gateway that connects their systems directly to the Brazilian Central Bank.
This hybrid approach preserves flexibility, reduces risk and accelerates deployment timelines. By giving firms the freedom to build bespoke solutions, Cumbuca ensures that innovation is not constrained by vendor dependencies or outdated operational frameworks.
Cumbuca is the first proxy for the Brazilian regulated ecosystem. It allows international fintech firms to use its payment license while retaining total control over their operations. Led by a team of Open Finance and payment experts, Cumbuca’ s investors include Lightspeed and Supera Capital.
Ruhman added:“ If we’ re to offer our customers regulatory peace of mind, we need not only to be aware of law changes, but be an active part of the community we’ re helping to shape and evolve. We’ re fortunate to have a forwardthinking Central Bank here in Brazil, and we’ re building a team that will help Cumbuca’ s clients thrive and the entire market become more accessible.”
Mercedes Bent, Venture Partner at Lightspeed, said:“ Brazil represents a significant opportunity for forwardthinking, global firms, but they need local partners to help enable their market presence. Cumbuca is ideally placed to meet that need: as our only investment in Brazil, it has deep sector expertise, a team that understands exactly what their customers are going through and a unique position not just as a start-up, but as a source of Open Finance knowledge.” •
Our own frustrations with the status quo have led us to pivot Cumbuca, so that we can help innovators remain compliant while they focus on building the infrastructure and products Brazilians are looking for. www. intelligentcio. com
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