Brex
{{Short description|Finance and technology company}}
{{tone|date=February 2020}}
{{For|the Candian company|Bre-X}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Brex Inc.
| logo = Brex Inc. Corporate Logo.png
| type = Private
| industry = Fintech
| key_people = {{unbulleted list|Henrique Dubugras |(Chairman)|Pedro Franceschi |(CEO)}}{{cite web | url=https://techcrunch.com/2024/06/12/fintech-brex-abandons-co-ceo-model-talks-ipo-cash-burn-and-plans-for-a-secondary-sale/ | title=Fintech Brex abandons co-CEO model, talks IPO, cash burn and plans for a secondary sale | date=12 June 2024 }}
| founded = {{Start date and age|2017|1}}
| num_employees = Approximately 1,200 (2024){{cite web | url=https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-tech-finance-co-brex-downsizes-1001469049/ | title=Tech finance co Brex downsizes
| date=31 January 2024 }}
| homepage = {{URL|brex.com}}
| founders = {{unbulleted list|Henrique Dubugras|Pedro Franceschi}}
}}
Brex Inc. is an American financial service and technology company that offers business credit cards and cash management accounts to technology companies.{{Cite web|url=https://www.paymentsjournal.com/brex-small-business-card-if-square-could-work-is-there-potential-here/|title=Brex Small Business Card: If Square Could Work, Is There Potential Here?|date=2018-06-19|website=PaymentsJournal|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-19}} Brex cards are business charge cards, which require at least $50,000 in a bank account if professionally invested, if not with $100,000 to open, and cardholders who default won't damage their personal credit or assets.{{cite web |url=http://upgradepoints.com/brex |title=Home |website=upgradepoints.com |access-date=19 December 2019}} Emigrant Bank issues the Brex cards.
History
Brex was founded by Brazilian entrepreneurs Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi on January 3, 2017. They had previously founded an online payments company, Pagar.me, before selling it to Stone.{{cite web |last=Schoenberg |first=Gregg |date=8 November 2018 |title=Charge card startup Brex aims for decacorn success |url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/08/charge-card-startup-brex-aims-for-decacorn-success/ |website=TechCrunch |url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web|title=StoneCo. Ltd. Form F-1|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1745431/000119312518289511/d580263df1.htm|access-date=2019-11-19|website=www.sec.gov}}{{Cite web|title=StoneCo. Ltd. Form 6-K/A|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1745431/000095010319003973/dp104113_6ka.htm|access-date=2019-11-19|website=www.sec.gov}}
Brex did not start as a fintech startup but rather as a VR startup, however the founders pivoted the company three weeks into Y Combinator's 12-week accelerator program.{{cite news |last=Rudgeair |first=Peter |date=5 October 2018 |title=The College Dropouts Who Rode Credit Cards Into The Billion-Dollar Startup Club |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-college-dropouts-who-rode-credit-cards-into-the-billion-dollar-startup-club-1538740851 |work=The Wall Street Journal |url-access=subscription}}
In February 2021, the company announced a submission application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions (UDFI) to establish an industrial bank named Brex Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brex. According to TechCrunch, the subsidiary appointed a former Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) executive as CEO.{{Cite news|title=Brex applies for bank charter, taps former Silicon Valley Bank exec as CEO of Brex Bank|work=TechCrunch|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/19/brex-applies-for-bank-charter-taps-former-silicon-valley-bank-exec-as-ceo-of-brex-bank/|last=Azevedo|first=Mary Ann}}
In April 2022, Brex launched Brex Empower, a financial software platform to help people comply with their employers' expense policies.{{Cite web |last=Azevedo |first=Mary Ann |date=2022-04-13 |title=Fintech Brex bets big on software, lands DoorDash as a customer |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/13/brex-spend-management-software-doordash/ |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}} In June 2022, Brex exited the small and midsize businesses (SMB) market, shifting the company's focus to serving enterprise customers.{{Cite web |last=Lawler |first=Ryan |date=2022-06-17 |title=Scoop: Brex exiting SMB market to focus on enterprise customers |url=https://www.axios.com/pro/fintech-deals/2022/06/17/brex-closing-smb-accounts |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=Axios |language=en}} In August 2022, Brex named Doug Adamic as the company's new chief revenue officer.{{Cite web |last=Brex |title=Brex Names Doug Adamic as Chief Revenue Officer |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/brex-names-doug-adamic-as-chief-revenue-officer-301598808.html |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en}}
According to CNBC, Brex received billions of dollars in deposits from SVB customers on March 9, 2023—a day prior to SVB's collapse.{{Cite web |last=Son |first=Hugh |date=March 10, 2023 |title=Fintech startup Brex got billions of dollars in Silicon Valley Bank deposits Thursday, source says |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/10/fintech-brex-got-billions-of-dollars-in-silicon-valley-bank-deposits-thursday.html |website=CNBC |language=en}} The following year, CNBC ranked Brex fourth on its 2024 Disruptor 50 list.{{cite web |website=CNBC
|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/14/brex-cnbc-disruptor-50.html
|title= 4. Brex
|date=May 14, 2024
|access-date=October 11, 2024
}}
In January 2024, Brex announced that it was laying off 300 of its employees, or roughly 20% of its workforce. The company cited slowing growth as a reason for the decision.{{Cite web|url=https://fortune.com/2024/01/23/brex-announced-it-will-lay-off-20-of-its-staff/|title=Brex, the fintech giant valued at $12.3 billion, announced it will lay off 20% of its staff|last=Robison|first=Kylie|date=23 January 2024|website=Fortune}}
Growth
Brex Inc. is backed by Peter Thiel, Ribbit Capital, Y Combinator, DST Global, Kleiner Perkins, Lone Pine Capital, and Greenoaks.{{Cite web |title=About Us - Brex |url=https://www.brex.com/about |access-date=2023-03-12 |website=brex.com |quote=Brex is backed by Y Combinator, Kleiner Perkins, DST Global, PayPal co-founders Max Levchin and Peter Thiel, Lone Pine Capital, and fintech specialist Ribbit Capital. |archive-date=2023-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307231920/https://www.brex.com/about |url-status=bot: unknown }}{{Cite news |date=2023-03-07 |title=CFOs Will Get Their Own AI Chatbot as Part of Brex Project |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-07/brex-to-offer-chatgpt-style-openai-chatbot-for-cfos-finance-professionals |access-date=2023-03-12 |quote=Brex, a six-year-old startup backed by Tiger Global and PayPal Holdings Inc. co-founders Max Levchin and Peter Thiel, is valued at more than $12 billion and counts companies such as DoorDash Inc. and Airbnb Inc. among its clients.}}{{Cite news|last=Kruppa|first=Miles|date=2021-04-02|title=Publicity-shy VC firm Greenoaks has bumper year|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/fee5ec23-daa8-4342-8d0e-06bb2303df05|access-date=2021-10-26}}{{Cite web |last=Insider |title=Brex's $57 Million Pitch Deck {{!}} Insider |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/bi-prime-brex-pitch-deck |access-date=2023-03-12 |website=www.businessinsider.com |quote=Brex already has more than 1,000 customers signed up with the help of backing from investors including PayPal co-founders Peter Thiel and Max Levchin, early Facebook investor Yuri Milner, former Visa CEO Carl Pascarella, and esteemed startup incubator Y Combinator.}}{{Cite web |title=Fintech Startup Brex Collects $50 Million Series B |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/fintech-startup-brex-collects-50-million-series-b-1529402400 |access-date=2023-03-12 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}
References
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Category:Privately held companies based in California
Category:Financial services companies established in 2017
Category:American companies established in 2017
Category:Companies based in San Francisco
Category:Y Combinator companies
Category:Financial services companies based in California
Category:Financial technology companies
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