Leve

What Leve does

Leve is a Brazilian fintech founded in 2019 and headquartered in Florianópolis, operating as a digital platform and systems developer. Per its firmographic profile, the company acts as a banking correspondent and offers a digital credit access platform targeted at employees, implying an employer-channel distribution model for credit products — likely including payroll-linked or paycheck-deducted lending products consistent with the correspondent banking structures commonly used by Brazilian digital lenders. The platform leverages correspondent banking arrangements to distribute credit products without holding a full banking license, a lightweight regulatory structure that reduces capital requirements at the cost of limited direct control over the underlying credit product.

The company was co-founded by Gustavo Raposo (CEO) and João Augusto Zaratine (Chief Revenue Officer). Leve has raised approximately $2.3 million in disclosed funding across two rounds: a $1 million seed in August 2019 from Global Founders Capital and a $1.3 million round in February 2021 led by Canary with participation from Caravela Capital. Headcount is reported at 1-10 employees, consistent with an early-stage operating profile.

Beyond this core positioning, no additional disclosures on technology stack, proprietary products, revenue model mechanics, customer segments, geographic footprint beyond Brazil, or AI/ML capabilities are present in the source data. Operational depth — including partnership stack, product catalog, pricing, and channel mix — is materially under-documented, which limits the granularity of any deeper characterization of the business.

Name

Leve

Legal name

Neon Pagamentos S.A.

Website

https://somosleve.com.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Leve is a Brazilian fintech founded in 2019 that operates as a digital platform developer and banking correspondent, offering a digital credit access platform for employees via employer-channel distribution.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Lending Platform

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

Loan Brokers (6163)

akta.pro primary industry

BaaS Platforms & Sponsor Bank Enablement (FSAGALAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Correspondent Banking & Liquidity Network Platforms (FSAGAKAI)

Keywords

• Digital credit platform
• Banking correspondent services
• Employee credit access
• Embedded finance platform
• Payroll credit distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Florianópolis

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Loan interest income: Neon earns interest revenue from personal loans and consignado loans extended to customers. Personal loans carry competitive interest rates with flexible installment structures, while consignado loans offer lower rates deducted directly from payroll for CLT workers.
2. Credit card interchange and fees: Revenue is generated from credit card transactions through interchange fees and annual fee structures (no annual fee model), supporting card usage across the Neon customer base.
3. CDB investment product fees: Neon distributes CDB (Certificado de Depósito Bancário) products through its platform, earning fees from the underlying issuing institution (Neon Financeira SCFI S.A.) for product distribution.
4. Correspondent banking fees: As a correspondent bankário for multiple financial institutions (Itaú Unibanco, Banco Citibank, QI Tech, Money Plus, Neon Financeira), Neon earns fees for originating and processing financial products including credit consignado and payment services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Leve is a digital platform and systems developer that operates as a banking correspondent and provides a digital credit access platform for employees. The company enables employees to access credit products digitally, leveraging its role as a banking correspondent to distribute credit on behalf of partner financial institutions.

Product overview

Neon is a Brazilian digital bank operating as a Payment Institution authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil. The core offering is a unified digital account platform (Conta Digital Neon) that provides banking services including credit cards (Cartão de Crédito Neon with no annual fee), debit cards (Cartão de Débito Neon with Visa international acceptance), virtual cards, and digital wallet functionality. The platform extends into credit products through its Empréstimos Neon umbrella, offering both personal loans (Empréstimo Pessoal Neon) and consigned loans (Empréstimo Consignado Neon) with 100% online contracting. Additional financial products include Viracrédito Neon for additional credit limits, Cashback Neon for purchase rewards, and CDBs Neon for investment products. Business-oriented services include the Área MEI for microentrepreneur management and the Correspondente Bancário Neon for distributing financial products through partner companies. The Neon ConsigaMais sub-brand serves as a platform for contracting additional financial products like FGTS salary advances.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Digital Credit Access Platform for Employees Digital platform that enables employees to access credit products through their employer's relationship with Leve, distributing credit on behalf of partner financial institutions.
• Banking Correspondent Services

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Neon Financeira SCFI S.A.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNeon acts as a correspondent bankário for Neon Financeira SCFI S.A. (CNPJ 11.285.104/0001-06), distributing CDB investment products, credit cards, and personal credit under the financial institution's authorization. This is a core distribution partnership enabling Neon to offer regulated financial products.
• Itaú Unibanco S.A.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNeon operates as a correspondent bankário for Itaú Unibanco (CNPJ: 60.701.190/0001-04) in the payment of bills and accounts through bank slips (ficha de compensação) and utility payment tickets, extending Itaú's distribution reach through Neon's digital platform.
• Banco Citibank S.A.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNeon operates as a correspondent bankário for Banco Citibank S.A. (CNPJ: 33.479.023/0001-80) for bill payment and account services, providing additional payment processing capabilities through the platform.
• QI Sociedade de Crédito Direto S.A. (Qi Tech)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThrough the Neon ConsigaMais platform, Neon distributes Qi Tech (CNPJ: 32.402.502/0001-35) products including the Saque Aniversário do FGTS (guaranteed wage advance from the severance fund) and private sector consignado loans. This is a flagship partnership for the ConsigaMais digital origination platform.
• Money Plus Sociedade de Crédito ao Microempreendedor e à Empresa de Pequeno Porte LTDAminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThe Neon ConsigaMais platform operates as a correspondent for Money Plus (CNPJ: 11.581.339/0001-45) to distribute private consignado loans, targeting microentrepreneurs and small business owners.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• C6 Bank: Brazilian digital bank offering personal loans, credit cards, and payroll-deduction products. A broader incumbent with a more diversified product suite but overlapping customer segments.
• Banco Inter: Brazilian digital bank offering a full suite of consumer credit products including payroll-deduction loans. A broader incumbent competing for the same employee-credit demand.
• Nubank: Largest Brazilian digital bank, offering personal loans, credit cards, and payroll-linked products to tens of millions of consumers. A broad incumbent that competes for the same employee/consumer credit demand Leve targets, but with vastly greater scale and balance-sheet capacity.
• Original (Banco Original): Brazilian digital and agribusiness bank with a growing consumer credit and payroll-linked loan offering. A broad incumbent with overlapping customer segments.

Emerging players

• Geru: Brazilian online lender focused on personal loans to underserved consumers, including those with negative credit histories. Comparable in target customer profile (negativados) and digital-only origination model.
• Will Bank: Brazilian digital lender with a strong focus on the CLT workforce and payroll-deduction (consignado) products. Comparable target customer and product set.
• Just (Just Money): Brazilian digital credit platform offering personal loans and payroll-linked products to formal workers. Comparable in employee-credit positioning and digital-first origination.

Direct peers

• QI Sociedade de Crédito Direto (QI Tech): Brazilian direct-credit company offering FGTS salary-advance and private consignado products through correspondent banking partners. Directly comparable as a sponsor-bank-style credit originator whose products are distributed via correspondent channels similar to Leve.
• Neon: Brazilian digital bank that operates a digital employee-credit platform (Neon ConsigaMais) as a banking correspondent for QI Tech and Money Plus, distributing consignado and FGTS-backed loans to employees. Direct comparable in business model, target customer, and regulatory channel.
• Money Plus: Brazilian microentrepreneur and small-business lender that distributes consignado credit through banking correspondents such as Neon. Comparable in operating model and end-borrower profile.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• YouTuberebrand.ly/yt-neon
• Facebookfacebook.com/somosleve
• LinkedInrebrand.ly/li-neon
• Instagramrebrand.ly/ig-neon

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Leve