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A month after a R$15M pre-seed, Zeom debuts in Brazil. Founded in London by veterans of Rebel, the fintech aims for 50 thousand customers by the end of 2026 and wants to compete with Nomad and Wise. 22/07/2026 08:58 Read a summary of this news A Zeom, a London-based fintech, starts operations in Brazil with a global banking platform. The solution allows real-time currency conversion, access to international assets and card payments, using blockchain and native AI. Founded by Brazilians ex-Rebel, Zeom seeks to attract an audience with globalized finances, offering more speed and transparency. The company aims for 50 thousand customers in Brazil by the end of 2026, with plans to expand to other emerging markets. Zeom has already raised R$15 million in a pre-seed round with Fabric Ventures, Tritemius and Plug and Play. Shortly after coming out of stealth mode with a R$15 million pre-seed, Zeom officially announced the start of its operations in Brazil this Tuesday (21). Based in London, it arrives in the national market with a thesis that it itself summarizes as "global banking": a platform that converts currencies in real time, with access to international assets and card payments, all running on a layer of blockchain and native AI. Brazil is the first country to officially receive the startup's solution, and the reason is simple: despite being founded outside the country, it is the creation of four Brazilians, three of whom previously worked at another fintech - Rebel. Rafael Pereira and André Bastos were founders of Rebel, but left shortly after the company's merger with Geru, which formed OpenCo in 2021. Alongside also ex-Rebel and co-founder Bruno Maia, the executives want to establish Zeom not only as a competitor to other global account players like Wise and Nomad, but to attract an audience that already manages their finances in a "globalized way", delivering more speed and transparency in transactions in dollars and other assets. "We have a lot of respect for what these companies have done, but they were born in a pre-AI and pre-blockchain era. It's like Nubank versus the most modern digital banks of the time. Nubank caught a technological shift that no one could keep up with. By the time people caught up, it was already 10 years ahead," Rafael fires off, in a conversation with Startups. According to the co-founder, Zeom functions as a sort of "Global Pix", using blockchain rails and native AI to convert reais into dollars or other assets instantly. "You make a Pix of R$20 and those R$20 become an asset that moves globally. You don't need to rewrite the legacy bank system, which takes two days to send to another bank, which takes another two days to send to a third," he explains. The practical result, according to Rafael, is an operation available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with low operating costs. "This translates into an ability to serve niches previously excluded by minimum asset barriers," he argues, pointing out that the minimum investment in the fintech is R$50. To explain why the blockchain infrastructure is a differentiator, and not just a technical detail, Bruno Maia proposes looking behind the traditional banking system. "The blockchain network solves a very difficult coordination problem, which is transferring value between parties that don't necessarily trust each other, without a centralizing party controlling transactions. The banking system was built on the same pain point, but with a complicated layered structure, outdated technology, and difficult to update," he details. Target audience and market size. In this first growth cycle, Zeom is eyeing a specific customer profile. According to Rafael, it is the "globalized citizen": people from the creator economy or freelancers who receive income in dollars, with monthly income starting at R$20 thousand and the intention to invest in assets beyond those offered in the Brazilian market. With this vision, the plan is to reach the mark of 50 thousand customers in the country by the end of 2026. "It's the time frame of the first cycle," Rafael pointed out, who estimates an average ticket in the range of "a few thousand dollars", potentially reaching about US$50 million under management. And, as the founders highlight, Brazil is just the first step. "Next, we will launch in other Latin American countries. Then we expand to Southeast Asia and Africa. There is nothing limiting us to working only with Brazilian clients," Rafael stated. Bruno added by explaining why the thesis, in the partners' view, makes sense for several markets simultaneously: "Zeom's thesis has a very good adherence to emerging markets in general. These markets have common pains: political volatility, economic volatility, wealth destruction over time due to inflation." To size the market, André cites three macro numbers: about 5 million Brazilians invest through brokerages, 25 million operate with crypto, and 100 million have some type of reserve. The larger calculation is global. "When we made our global plan, what we were considering was US$340 billion just from emerging markets in wealth preservation. If we take 3% of that market, it's already a TAM of US$10 billion," he said. Money to fund. With ambitious growth goals, Zeom has already left stealth mode with cash in hand. Last month, the fintech raised a pre-seed of R$15 million with the British Fabric Ventures, a global manager specializing in Web3. The deal also had participation from Spanish Tritemius, with an investment close to that of the lead, and from accelerator Plug and Play from Silicon Valley. Regarding the next check, Rafael did not rule out a new round in about a year: "We have the financial capacity to go well through this cycle, but will probably return to the market next year. If everything goes well, we'll go sooner." André confirmed that there is already interest from other funds, mainly foreign ones. Startups is in the routine of more than 30 thousand decision makers. Are you going to stay out?

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