In an interview, the startup described Brazil as a hostile market for payments, with a quarter of transactions failing and merchants paying a multiple of what they pay in other markets to process payments. The startup — part of Y Combinator’s past Summer 2021 cohort — offers an array of payment processors via an API, along with a number of payment options. In short, the company wants to make payments in Brazil less onerous, perhaps unlocking economic potential in its market while driving commerce through its developer hook. The company first hit the market in April. The startup raised its latest capital using a SAFE, or simple agreement for future equity, which featured a cap, though we’re not sure how high the conversion ceiling was set. Cheetham said that she met Plug CEO Alex Vilhena in May, before the company was a part of Y Combinator, but that a deal to put Costanoa’s capital into the business didn’t come together until months later. The company fit into her thesis, even if its target market wasn’t where she had initially looked for a company to back.