
Investors should focus on B2B cross-border fintech in Latin America, where companies like Jeeves are disrupting traditional banking by using stablecoins to settle international payments in one hour instead of days. While Jeeves is currently private, its success highlights a high-conviction shift toward stablecoin-native financial systems that protect enterprise purchasing power in high-inflation markets like Argentina and Brazil. Look for exposure to USDC and MasterCard, as the former provides the liquidity for these "invisible" blockchain rails and the latter serves as the primary infrastructure partner for global expansion. Artificial Intelligence is no longer optional; the highest-margin opportunities lie in firms using AI agents for automated underwriting and reconciliation to achieve 10x revenue growth without increasing headcount. Prioritize fintech investments that own their regulatory licenses and infrastructure, as this "full-stack" approach has proven to double profit margins from 40% to over 80%.
• Jeeves is a stablecoin-native financial operating system designed for global enterprises, currently operating in 25 countries with a heavy focus on Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Colombia). • The company has evolved from a simple corporate card provider to a full-stack business bank offering expense management, local/international payments, and treasury services. • Infrastructure & Regulation: Jeeves acts as a principal member of MasterCard, issuing its own cards without a middleman bank. They are filing for a full deposit-taking bank license in Brazil and money movement licenses in Mexico. • Financial Growth: The company reports a Total Payment Volume (TPV) growth from $400 million to over $3 billion in two years, with a target of $6 billion for the current year. • Margin Expansion: By owning the infrastructure and regulatory licenses, Jeeves expanded its margins from 40% to over 80% in the last two years.
• Target Market Shift: Jeeves has pivoted away from small businesses to focus exclusively on mid-market and enterprise companies (typically $10M to $100M+ in revenue). This suggests higher stability and lower churn for the platform. • Defensibility through Difficulty: The company’s "moat" is built on the high barrier to entry of navigating fragmented international regulations and building custom ledgers across 25 different currencies. • Efficiency Gains: The company reduced headcount from 200 to 140 while growing revenue 10x, demonstrating the high scalability of their AI-integrated model.
• Stablecoins are described as a "lived experience" in emerging markets like Argentina, where 60% of the population uses them for currency volatility protection. • Jeeves Instant Pay: This product uses stablecoins (specifically USDC) as the backend infrastructure for cross-border payments. • Traditional Rails: Mexico to U.S. transfers take 1–2 days via correspondent banks. • Stablecoin Rails: Settlement happens in one hour by collecting local currency and instantly releasing USDC. • Future Outlook: Jeeves plans to move its entire company stack onto stablecoins within 2–3 years, potentially collateralizing receivables on-chain to lower the cost of capital.
• Invisible Tech: The most successful implementation of stablecoins for enterprises is "invisible." CFOs care about speed and cost (getting money in one hour vs. five days) rather than the underlying blockchain technology. • Currency Protection: In high-inflation regions like Argentina, stablecoin-linked corporate cards allow businesses to instantly convert local currency to USD-denominated assets, protecting their purchasing power. • Market Expansion: Stablecoins allow fintechs to launch in smaller markets (like Peru) at a fraction of the traditional cost, as they bypass much of the expensive local banking "plumbing."
• Jeeves uses AI as a core operational driver rather than just a customer-facing feature. • Underwriting: A team of only four people manages $2–$3 billion in TPV, a task that previously required 15+ people, thanks to self-learning models. • AI Agents: The company has deployed specific agents for: • Reconciliation: Matching purchases to receipts. • GL Coding: Automatically assigning accounting codes to transactions with 99% accuracy. • Customer Service: Uses an internal chatbot ("Lenora") to handle multilingual support across various financial products.
• Operational Leverage: The transcript highlights that for financial services, AI's biggest impact is in document ingestion (KYB/KYC) and risk assessment, allowing firms to scale volume without scaling headcount. • Localization Challenges: A key insight for investors is that generic AI isn't enough; models must be trained on regional nuances (e.g., Brazil’s interchangeable use of commas and dots in financial figures). • Founder Sentiment: The CEO suggests that "if you are not AI-pilled, you're not going to make it," indicating a ruthless industry-wide shift toward AI-native operations.
• Fragmented Infrastructure: Global business is currently hindered by "country-by-country" fragmentation of banks and payment rails. • Programmable Money: The convergence of AI agents and stablecoins is leading toward "programmable money," where software agents can handle purchasing and treasury functions autonomously. • The "Revolut for Business" Model: There is a massive opportunity in building a unified global interface that looks the same to a user in Brazil as it does in Mexico, despite the different backend complexities.
• B2B vs. B2C: While consumer fintech is crowded, the B2B cross-border payment space remains highly lucrative due to the complexity of enterprise needs (budgets, approval flows, and tax compliance). • Regional Focus: Latin America is a primary "Why Now" region for fintech investment due to high digitization (e.g., Brazil's instant payment systems) and the urgent need for stable currency alternatives.

By Andreessen Horowitz
The a16z Podcast discusses tech and culture trends, news, and the future – especially as ‘software eats the world’. It features industry experts, business leaders, and other interesting thinkers and voices from around the world. This podcast is produced by Andreessen Horowitz (aka “a16z”), a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm. Multiple episodes are released every week; visit a16z.com for more details and to sign up for our newsletters and other content as well!