The spend platform for modern companies — cards, banking, and AI-powered expense management
HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States | Founded: 2017 | Employees: 1,100-1,221 | Stage: Acquired (by Capital One, Jan 2026) | Website: https://www.brex.com
Brex was founded in 2017 by Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi, Brazilian entrepreneurs and Stanford dropouts who previously built Pagar.me, one of Brazil's largest payments processors. Initially targeting startups underserved by traditional banks, Brex launched corporate cards with no personal guarantee, instant approvals based on company cash balances, and industry-leading rewards (up to 8x). Through Y Combinator W17, the company raised from Ribbit Capital, Greenoaks, DST Global, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Tiger Global, TCV and others, scaling to a $7.4B Series D in April 2021 ($425M led by Tiger Global) and a $12.3B peak after a $300M growth round in October 2021.
The platform now spans five core pillars: Corporate Cards (Visa with dynamic limits and virtual cards), AI-powered Expense Management (automated receipt capture, categorization, and policy enforcement), Business Banking / Cash Management (up to $6M FDIC insurance via program banks, high-yield treasury), Bill Pay, and Travel Booking. Brex monetizes primarily via card interchange plus SaaS fees for premium software, serving startups through enterprise while competing with Ramp, Mercury, BILL/Divvy, and Pleo. After re-focusing from SMB to enterprise in 2022-2023 and reaching $500M ARR in November 2024, Brex secured a $235M debt facility from Citi in January 2025 before its acquisition by Capital One for $5.15B in cash and stock on January 22, 2026.
Brex pioneered the modern corporate card for startups — no personal guarantee, instant underwriting, 8x rewards — and parlayed that wedge into a full-stack spend platform covering cards, AI expense management, FDIC-insured cash management ($6M via program banks), bill pay, and travel. After hitting a $12.3B peak valuation in 2021 on $425M Series D ($7.4B) and $300M extension led by Tiger Global and Greenoaks, Brex navigated the fintech downturn, reached $500M ARR in late 2024 with 35K customers and $10B+ deposits, and secured a $5.15B cash-and-stock exit to Capital One in January 2026 — a strategic bet on combining Brex's tech-forward spend platform with Capital One's banking scale and enterprise distribution.
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