萝莉视频

According to co-founder Henrique Dubugras, Brex, which is valued at around $2.6 billion, “was never going to be just a corporate credit card company.” So today, the credit card for startups company announced its latest offering: Brex Cash, which minimizes the expense and tediousness of wiring money through a traditional bank.

, it will take Brex Cash less than a minute to wire transfer. And Dubugras told 萝莉视频 News that Brex Cash may be obtained by startups that weren鈥檛 eligible for the Brex credit card.

鈥淏uilding a bank is difficult,鈥� Dubugras told us. 鈥淪o we built something better.鈥�

Brex鈥檚 intro video:

鈥� Natasha Mascarenhas (@ TC DISRUPT) (@nmasc_)

What It Does

Before Brex cash, the company鈥檚 flagship offering was a credit card that could give loans to startups in spaces like retail, SaaS and life sciences. Now with the cash integration, Brex is looking to be a 鈥渂ank account replacement.鈥�

Dubugras, on stage, added that it traditionally costs $23 dollars to wire money. With Brex Cash, he said that it costs $0, and you get Brex Points, too.

He walked me through the process as a potential startup: As a new startup, if your investor uses Brex you can instantly get money from a new round. And then you can instantly layer in payments, payroll, and do whatever you would traditionally do. He said the bets of Brex are working: Scale.AI joined with Brex when it was only 4 people and at a seed round. Now it鈥檚 a unicorn, surpassing $1 billion in valuation.

A Funding Rewind

The San Francisco company most recently raised $100 million in a round led by Kleiner Perkins Digital Growth Fund. Existing investors also joined in, including Y Combinator Continuity, GreenOaks Capital, Ribbit Capital, DST Global, and IVP. Its total known funding to date is $315 million.

Back then, the startup said the new capital will be used to expand spending features and rewards. , there鈥檚 financing tailored for e-commerce startups or life sciences startups, offering points for lab equipment, for example.

It also said the new capital would fuel a broader audience. With its flagship offering, the credit card, Brex is already tapping into a crowd most financiers are too scared to bet on: risky, high-churn startups.

The most obvious competitor, Stripe, comes from the same Y-Combinator roots itself.

Early last month, Stripe, a payment processing behemoth, launched Stripe Capital touting quick loans and flat fees for startups needing capital. It also announced a credit card for startups.

Dubugras said that the Stripe card鈥檚 鈥渟imilarity was quite surprising.鈥�

鈥淓very time an incumbent launches a product, the insurgent has to compete,鈥� he added on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt, when TC reporter Kate Clark asked about what it would be like to go against a company with a longer lifetime.聽 Dubugras pointed to Stripe doing multiple products, but for Brex, this card and cash 鈥渋s their life.鈥�

As both Stripe and Brex raised hundreds of millions the heels of each other, we鈥檒l see which one convinces risky startups to take a bet on their alternative to banking.