Aro, a fintech company that developed an artificial intelligence (AI) agent to guide people through the world of credit, announced on Monday, April 13, that it is coming out of stealth mode after raising US$2.5 million (just over R$12.5 million) in a pre-seed round.
The funding round was led by Argentinian investment firms ONEVC and 17Sigma, and included participation from Norte Ventures , the American firm Gilgamesh, and Grão VC. The valuation was not disclosed.
With these resources, the company co-founded by Pedro Milanez – Nubank 's first employee and co-founder of the proptech Lastro, which has the support of Prosus – and Yuri Mannes, former vice president of innovation at BR Media Group, is now set to grow.
The assessment is that the moment is favorable for fintechs that focus on the consumer journey, not just on selling products, given the capabilities brought by AI.
“There has been an explosion of financial services, but the financial services layer, the customer service layer, hasn’t happened yet,” Milanez, CEO of Aro, tells NeoFeed .
"This exists in the investment world, with private bankers and advisors, but not in credit, the main pain point from the perspective of financial relationships, access to credit, going through renegotiation until finding the most suitable product," he adds.
Created in August 2024, Aro uses AI and behavioral data to understand each client's situation, guiding them on which paths to follow to access credit under better conditions. The product is primarily aimed at people in social classes C and D, based on the assessment that this is the audience that most needs help with the topic of credit.
According to Milanez, part of the funding round will be allocated to expanding the company, hiring more people and investing in technology, with a focus on creating a dataset of people's main pain points to improve analysis models.
The other part will be used to scale the credit operation. The platform has five partners to whom it directs clients and accompanies them until the end of the loan, and can even help people if they need to renegotiate their debt.
“Our idea is not just to originate in the medium and long term, but to co-create and help in the relationship with customers and in the decision-making process, using our data,” says Milanez.
Aro also has its own uncollateralized personal loan operation. Milanez says this product is an emergency line of credit, with a low loan amount of up to R$200. The funds come from the company's cash reserves, with the fintech using Celcoin 's banking license.
Since the launch of the MVP in November 2025, more than 100,000 people have already used the Aro platform, with the fintech originating more than R$ 2 million in credit using its own resources.
With its business thesis validated, Aro is now entering a new phase of growth. The company projects reaching $1 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) by the end of the first half of the year and is preparing to expand its offering with the integration of 15 more credit partners by the end of the year.
In the case of our own line of credit, the plan is to maintain the low-value, uncollateralized personal loan line. "We don't aim to grow our portfolio in the short term; it's much more about building a dataset to understand the dynamics of credit behavior," says Milanez.
In addition to the funding, Milanez says the round will open doors to the world of venture capital , considering that he plans to go to market at the end of the year to raise more capital.
“Businesses that need scale and involve credit need funding. That’s why I chose the investors who are now at the cap table , because it will be necessary,” he says. “Part of the plan is to bring in more strategic credit funds and continue with our current partners.”
