UnblockPay

Why this team

CEO Lucca Freire co-founded Trampolin, a banking-as-a-service company Stone bought in 2021, then led Stone's APIs for accounts, Pix and Open Finance, and helped start NG.Cash. That is close to the exact job UnblockPay is doing. CTO Pedro Henrique Braz Campo built at Trampolin with him. COO Fabio Thiele came from M&A at BNP Paribas.

For a regulated payments company in Brazil right now, I would also want a senior compliance and regulatory lead on the team. None is named in public sources.

• Lucca FreireCo-founder and CEOCo-founded Trampolin, sold to Stone in 2021; led Stone's account, Pix and Open Finance APIs; helped create NG.Cash. braziljournal.com
• Fabio ThieleCo-founder and COOPreviously in M&A at BNP Paribas' investment bank. braziljournal.com
• Pedro Henrique Braz CampoCo-founder and CTOFormer software engineer at Trampolin and Stone. neofeed.com.br

What exists today, and what does not yet

Traction on the public record

• More than 40 clients. Mar 2026 · neofeed.com.br
• More than R$100M processed in February 2026 alone, about R$300M in total by the end of March. Mar 2026 · finsidersbrasil.com.br
• Mercado Bitcoin uses it for its euro-to-real remittance product. Oct 2025 · braziljournal.com

What I cannot see from outsideRevenue, take rate, volume since March 2026, banking partners and, most important this month, whether the license application has been filed.

Competition, and why they could still win

The founders' last company was Pix infrastructure sold to Stone. In a market where access to banks and the central bank decides who survives, relationships and regulatory credibility count for more than product. If the license comes through, the coming consolidation clears out weaker competitors and favors operators like these.

What I would have to believe

1. UnblockPay files on time, gets authorized, and meets the capital requirement without a punishing raise.
2. Brazilian banks will buy dollar infrastructure rather than build it.
3. The fee inside the exchange rate holds up against better-funded competitors.

Questions for the first call

1. Have you filed for central bank authorization ahead of the October 30 deadline, and how will you meet the capital requirement?
2. Which banks provide your Pix and accounts, and what happens to them if a filing is delayed?
3. What is your take rate, and what was volume in September?
4. How concentrated is volume in Mercado Bitcoin, which is pursuing its own license?
5. Which corridors actually pay out today, and when do Colombia and Argentina go live?
6. How do your compliance checks compare with what banks will require once crypto providers sit under foreign-exchange rules?

What gets them to a Series A

• Central bank authorization granted.
• Monthly volume near the R$1 billion target with no single customer above a third of it.
• At least two banks offering dollar accounts on UnblockPay.
• A second country's license or banking partner live.

When I would walk away

• The authorization filing misses the deadline or is denied.
• Bank partners cut off access under the new rules.

Risks

• Providers like UnblockPay must file for authorization by October 30, 2026; it was not on the regulator's public list of applicants as of October 10. bitnoticias.com.br
• After the deadline, banks may not serve unlicensed providers, which could cut off its core rail; the regulator has already denied its first applicant. news.symplexia.com
• The CEO calls the R$15M to R$30M capital requirement monumental, against a seed of about R$23.6M. timesbrasil.com.br
• Its own documentation lists narrower payout coverage than its press. docs.unblockpay.com