Ruvo, a Brazil-US cross-border fintech, has raised $4.6 million in a seed round led by 1confirmation, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Rebel Fund, Blast, Neer Ventures, First Check Ventures, and Mission Street Capital. The Y Combinator-backed startup is building the first platform to integrate crypto and Pix for remittances between Brazil and the United States.
Nosso CEO, @alecmhoward anunciou a captação de US$ 4.6M para acelerar o que realmente importa: infraestrutura financeira moderna.
Não é sobre mais um app.
É sobre mudar como o dinheiro cruza fronteiras.
Ruvo está construindo esse futuro.
https://t.co/gOQbgx0egz— Ruvo (@ruvopay)
February 5, 2026
What Is Ruvo?
Ruvo is a global dollar account designed for Brazilians and U.S. citizens who earn, send, or spend across the Brazil-US corridor. Founded by Alec Howard (CEO, ex-Uber) and Mike Mason (CTO), Ruvo combines Pix, stablecoins (USDT), ACH/wire transfers, and Visa cards into a single mobile wallet.
The platform enables users to:
- Receive USD from abroad – via ACH, wire, or crypto from international employers and clients
- Convert between BRL, USDT, and USD – in real time, with no IOF (Brazil’s tax on foreign exchange)
- Send money between Brazil and the U.S. – using crypto-powered rails integrated with Pix
- Spend globally – with a USD Visa card, no FX markup or hidden fees
- Save and earn yield – invest in USDT with returns of up to 6% per year
Ruvo claims to be the first solution to integrate crypto and Pix for remittances between Brazil and the U.S., enabling near-instant settlement and eliminating traditional intermediaries.
How Ruvo Works: The Money Flow
Ruvo’s architecture connects three payment rails into one seamless experience:
| Rail | Function | Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Pix | Instant BRL funding and withdrawals in Brazil | Seconds |
| Crypto (USDT) | Fast, low-cost dollar transfers between Brazil and the U.S. | Minutes |
| Visa | Global spending in USD, online or in-person | Instant |
This multi-rail approach supports two-way cross-border payments: Brazil → U.S., U.S. → Brazil, and crypto-to-crypto transfers between wallets.
The $4.6M Seed Round: Who’s Backing Ruvo?
The seed round was led by 1confirmation, a prominent crypto venture fund that has previously invested in Coinbase and Polymarket. The full investor lineup includes:
- 1confirmation: Lead investor; crypto-native VC known for early bets on blockchain infrastructure
- Coinbase Ventures: The venture arm of Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange
- Rebel Fund: A fund run by Y Combinator alumni investing in YC-backed startups
- Blast: A fintech-focused investment fund
- Neer Ventures: Early-stage venture capital
- First Check Ventures (FCV): Pre-seed and seed stage investor
- Mission Street Capital: Technology-focused venture fund
- Y Combinator: One of the world’s top startup accelerators
The participation of angel investors from both the fintech and Web3 sectors rounds out the cap table. Ruvo is one of the very few Latin American startups backed by Y Combinator in recent years, having presented at YC in June 2025.
The total raised of $4.6M places Ruvo in the top 22% of payment projects by fundraising, according to industry tracking data.
The funding round also contributes to the broader momentum seen in Crypto Fundraising in January 2026, as investors double down on real-world crypto payment infrastructure.
The Founders: From Uber to Fintech
Alec Howard, Ruvo’s CEO, first came to Brazil in 2016 just before the Rio Olympics as part of Uber’s expansion team. He helped open regional offices and adapt the Uber app to Brazil’s unique payments landscape. A decade later, he is relocating from New York to São Paulo to lead Ruvo’s growth full-time.
Alec and co-founder Mike Mason (CTO) noticed that fintechs in Mexico and Argentina were already using stablecoins for expatriate remittances, but nothing comparable existed in Brazil. In January 2025, Alec returned to Brazil to validate the opportunity and, by his own admission, to catch some waves at Barra do Una and Arpoador.
By April 2025, the team was building the platform and processing its first transfers. “One of our first payments was to a dentist, right here in Brazil,” Alec told Brazil Journal.
Why Stablecoins Change the Game
Traditional cross-border transfers between Brazil and the U.S. using SWIFT can take up to five business days and carry heavy fees. Stablecoin-powered transfers, on the other hand, settle in minutes, rivaling the speed of Pix domestically.
Key advantages of Ruvo’s stablecoin approach:
- No IOF tax on stablecoin transactions (though Brazilian regulators are exploring ways to tax these operations in the future)
- Near-instant settlement compared to multi-day bank wires
- Lower fees as low as 0.2% for businesses versus 5–8% industry standard
- Transparent FX rates users see real-time conversion rates and choose when to convert
Ruvo partners with both American and Brazilian banks to conduct operations, while using Crossmint’s enterprise-grade smart wallet infrastructure to power its programmable wallets, key management, and blockchain interactions behind the scenes.
What’s Next for Ruvo in 2026?
Ruvo plans to use the fresh capital to expand its international payments infrastructure and increase access to U.S. dollar services for Brazilian individuals and companies. As part of ongoing web3 fundraising updates, the company has announced plans to introduce dollar-denominated yield options in 2026, giving users the ability to earn returns on their holdings directly within the app.
With advancing stablecoin regulation in both the U.S. and Brazil providing greater legal certainty, Ruvo is well-positioned alongside emerging competitors like Lumx and Unblock Pay to capture a meaningful share of the massive Brazil-US remittance corridor.
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