Clara Announces Francisco Simon as New Country Manager in Brazil

July 2023 - Latin America’s leading solution for companies to make and manage all their payments, the fintech Clara announces the arrival of Francisco Simon as its new Country Manager in Brazil. With more than 20 years of experience at technology companies such as Uber, Meta and Microsoft in sales and management, the executive will support Clara’s rapid growth at a time when large companies are the focus of customer acquisition.

Francisco will also lead the launch of strategic products and features for the Brazilian market, making Clara’s payments solution — which already includes corporate credit cards and expense management software — even more complete. Everything is focused on enabling companies to operate with agility and clarity, helping them become more efficient and less bureaucratic.

“I am passionate about two things: the power of technology to drive transformation and the power of collaboration between people. From the beginning of my conversations with the Clara team, I could see that I would find a mix of both here. That is why I am very confident in Clara’s potential to change the way companies handle their expenses and finances, not only in Brazil but across Latin America,” Francisco says about his arrival.

Founded in early 2021 in Mexico, Clara arrived in Brazil in December of the same year and has since surpassed 100 employees in the country, about 30% of the company. In the first half of 2023 alone, it grew 122% in active cards and 74% in transaction volume.

Clara currently has clients such as Méliuz, Rappi and Bitso, which believed in the proposal from the start of operations, and more recently signed companies such as BR Malls, Starbucks and Smartfit, proof of the market’s confidence in the value proposition. With his background at fast-growing companies and deep knowledge of the enterprise segment, Francisco is expected to help Brazil become Clara’s main market by 2024.

“We are very proud of everything we have already achieved in Brazil in such a short time. Francisco’s arrival is another important step toward consolidating our position as the leading corporate payment management solution in Brazil. His expertise in fast-growing businesses will allow us to help more and more companies operate with agility and clarity, making them more efficient and less bureaucratic,” summarizes Gerry Giacomán Colyer, CEO and co-founder of Clara.

“We are very proud of our entire journey here in Brazil, and I see Francisco’s arrival as another important step on that path. We have many new products to launch in the coming months, and his expertise will be essential to bringing them to as many clients as possible,” said the CEO.