PicPay Files for Nasdaq IPO

In late April, mobile payments fintech PicPay filed a request before the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering (IPO) of up to $1 billion to be listed at Nasdaq. Picpay, which presently has an e-wallet consisting of over 50 million registered users and is owned by J&F Investimentos, is expected to be listed under the ticker symbol PICS.

Bradesco BBI, BTG Pactual, Santander and Barclays will coordinate the offering which, according to undisclosed sources, should take place in June as the company seeks a market value of up to $8 billion.

Based in São Paulo, PicPay was founded in 2012 in Vitória as a digital wallet fintech and, in 2015, the thriving company was snapped up by the J&F group, a holding company owned by the billionaire Batista family, which also owns global food giant JBS. Amidst the pandemic and the need for digital financial services, PicPay has seen its userbase increase from 28.4 million in early 2020 to over 39 million active users as of April 2021. Moreover, the company’s gross revenue has more than quadrupled from $15.5 million in 2019 to $71 million in 2020.

According to PicPay, the funds raised via its IPO will be invested into its digital financial marketplace and the launch of advertising services in late 2021, as well as strategic acquisitions to expand its available products and open up new markets. As stated by founder, Anderson Chamon, the goal is to reach every cellphone in Brazil.

“We believe that the growth of our userbase and the engagement in our ecosystem demonstrates the scalability of our business model and reveals a great opportunity to generate more value for our customers.” stated José Antonio Batista, CEO of PicPay. “We want to transform the way people and companies interact, make transactions and communicate through an intelligent, connected, and straightforward experience.”, he added.