At a time when the Brazilian population is highly indebted and fintechs are facing regulatory scrutiny, the fintech company Kesh raised R$ 550 million to scale its "interest cashback" offering.
The funding round, announced on Tuesday, August 4th, was led by Grupo Leste , an alternative investment platform founded by Emmanuel Hermann. The operation included participation from BR Angels and a group of strategic partners from Across Capital, combining equity and funding resources for the company's FIDC (Investment Fund in Receivables). The valuation was not disclosed.
More than just securing the resources needed to pursue the goal of reaching 1 million users in three years, the funding round served as an "institutional stamp of approval" for Kesh's unorthodox thesis, bringing well-known names from the market to the cap table , according to Marcelo Ramos, founder and CEO of Kesh.
“Our biggest challenge today is credibility,” he tells NeoFeed . “The market is going through a complicated time for fintechs, so we needed to show that we have financial backing and a solid operation to grow, after proving that our thesis holds water.”
Operating since April 2025, Kesh is a B2B2C fintech company specializing in payroll management and payment, with its main differentiating factor being the granting of credit with an "interest cashback" offer.
The startup's model works like an advance on salary for days worked. The employee takes out the loan, and the interest charged is returned in the form of cashback, which can be used with Kesh's partner companies.
The economic logic of the operation lies in the relationship with business partners, in addition to managing companies' payroll. Instead of retaining the full interest on loans, the fintech converts this amount into consumer credit in categories such as food, transportation, telephony, health, and digital services.
In return, Kesh receives commissions from the companies participating in the network, which has more than 150 partners, including Bob's, Vivo , TIM, Claro , Uber , Deezer and Netshoes, according to Ramos.
“We identified that it wasn’t possible to significantly reduce the cost of money. So we thought: what if we offset 100% of the interest? The worker pays the interest, but receives that amount back in purchasing power for everyday expenses,” says Ramos.
The product is primarily aimed at lower-income workers who have exhausted other sources of credit. Approximately 80% of borrowers earn up to five minimum wages, and more than a third of the active user base, currently composed of 40,000 users, utilizes the product every month to address cash flow needs.
"The main problem we solve is that of workers who are already at the limit of their loan and need R$ 500 or R$ 600 for an emergency," says Ramos.
Since the start of operations, more than R$ 30 million in credit has already been granted. The average loan amount is around R$ 650. As the loans are linked to the payroll account, the company considers default rates to be under control.
For Emmanuel Hermann, CEO and founder of the Leste group, which has been an investor in Kesh since the beginning, the model caught his attention because of the alignment between profitability and worker benefits, a beneficial model in times of high population indebtedness.
"I liked the idea of maximizing this gain and sharing part of it with those who are taking out the loan. I found it to be a very creative structure that generates value for the user," he says.
Hermann helped in the initial structuring of the company, with the creation of the FIDC (Investment Fund in Receivables) where part of the funds from the funding round will be allocated, a portion of which will come from Leste funds, a firm that manages over R$ 22.3 billion.
He has known Ramos since the days of Vee Benefícios, a flexible benefits startup he founded in 2016 that was acquired by the French company Swile in 2021. Hermann was one of the company's founders and decided to embark with Ramos on the "cashback with interest" concept.
The funds raised will be used to expand its presence among companies and accelerate product distribution. In addition to offering credit, the fintech provides its own payroll processing system, with features focused on digitizing companies' financial management.
“We proved that the theory works. Now is the time to scale up, gain visibility, and show that there is an alternative to meet the needs of the worker,” says Ramos.
