The company will use the capital to scale up its technology operations and develop solutions beyond flexible benefits
SÃO PAULO, August 31, 2022 – Caju Benefícios, a leading flexible benefits management platform, today announced it has raised a $25 million Series B round led by K1 Investment Management, a Los Angeles-based investment firm focused on high growth B2B software companies. With the funding, the company plans to increase the efficiency of its solutions and invest in developing new products for the HR segment in Latin America. In addition, Caju plans to expand its offerings to enterprise customers without detriment to the personalized service it provides to existing clients.
Previous investors in Caju, including Valor Capital Group, Caravela Capital, Clocktower Ventures and FJ Labs, also participated in the round.
Founded in 2020 by CEO Eduardo del Giglio and CTO Renan Mendes, Caju’s mission is to transform companies’ HR functions through technology. Brazilian labor law requires employers to provide monthly benefits to employees, like vouchers for meals and transportation, which demonstrates Caju’s mission criticality in the Brazilian workforce. Thousands of companies currently use Caju’s solutions to offer a variety of benefits to their workers, and hundreds of thousands of individuals use Caju’s card, which is issued by Visa.
Caju has seen significant growth in the past year alone: the company started 2022 with a workforce of 70 people, and has since more than doubled its headcount to 180 employees. Caju plans to expand its bench further, particularly its technology roles, to further its mission to reach one million users by the end of 2022.
“Our main growth strategy has always been based on our superior technology and product,” said Eduardo del Giglio, Founder and CEO of Caju Benefícios. “We’re excited to partner with K1 to sustainably scale up our product offerings and focus on quality, usefulness, and excellence in the services we provide.”
This plan to scale up product offerings is already in motion. In April, the company launched Caju Viagens, which allows Caju clients to digitally and safely advance funds for its workers on business trips, without compromising regular benefits or their salaries.
“The Brazilian benefits market is currently undergoing a revolution, upgrading from an industry that historically did not promote user satisfaction or effectiveness,” said Christian Grant, SVP at K1. “Caju has been at the forefront of this revolution, satisfying the needs of HR professionals in Brazil, and we are excited to join them in their next phase of growth. We are excited to continue investing in and building more Category Leaders in the LATAM region.”
Full Benefits
“Caju” is the Portuguese word for “cashew.” The company’s name is an homage to this versatile treat, which can be consumed as a fruit, nut or cocktail garnish. Caju is similarly versatile as a company: Caju’s card is the only one that encompasses several different benefit categories such as meal, groceries, culture and transportation, and it can be used anywhere Visa cards are accepted. Customers themselves can determine how to use the funds when the labor conventions of their professional category allow for it. The company doesn’t charge fees for admission, management or delivery, helping HR departments that join or remain in Caju’s base cut down on costs.
Flexible benefits also help companies retain talent by giving employees the autonomy to use their benefits how they see fit. Caju began its journey catering to startup clients like Rappi and Gympass, but soon grew its client base to more traditional partners such as Votorantim, O Boticário, and Dafiti. Caju’s mission is to attract more companies with relevant teams between 150 and 1,500 people.
Established during the COVID-19 pandemic, Caju already fits the new reality of the labor market in LATAM, helping its clients to implement timely innovations such as home-office aid.
Caju’s founders
Eduardo del Giglio and Renan Mendes are not first-time entrepreneurs. Before founding Caju, del Giglio created and sold a marketplace for cleaning services that, through its merger with Parafuzo, became the largest marketplace in the region. He then spent two years at McKinsey, where he got to know the conventional corporate benefits sector and identified opportunities to disrupt it. del Giglio holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Insper Institute of Teaching and Research.
Mendes is a computer engineer and graduate of POLI-USP. Previously, he co-founded co-working space Revita Consultorios and served as the first technology hire for CERC Recebíveis. del Giglio and Mendes met during an EIR (Entrepreneur in Residence) program at Canary.
About Caju
Founded in 2020, Caju is a fruit of Brazilian entrepreneurship for those who see the people behind their workers. Its platform consolidates all corporate benefits into just one Visa card, offering flexible and innovative solutions to bring flavor to professional life. 8,000 companies and 400,000 people currently use Caju services.
About K1
K1 is a global investment firm that builds category-leading enterprise software companies. K1 partners with strong management teams of high-growth technology businesses to help them achieve successful outcomes. With over 140 professionals, K1 and its operating affiliate, K1 Operations LLC, change industry landscapes with operationally focused growth strategies designed to rapidly scale portfolio companies. Since inception of the firm, K1 has partnered with over 200 enterprise software companies including industry leaders such as AccessiBe, Atera, Checkmarx, Complysci, ControlUp, Emburse, Employ, Granicus, HR Acuity, IronScales, Onit, RethinkFirst, Reveal-Brainspace, RFPIO, simPRO, Smarsh, XTM International and Zapproved. For more information, visit k1im.com and follow on LinkedIn.
