Pagar.me
“Can Stone's online-payments arm become the default PSP, sub-acquirer and marketplace infrastructure for Brazilian e-commerce?”
Founded2013
HQBrazil
FoundersHenrique Dubugras, Pedro Franceschi
Latest roundAcquired by StoneCo (2016)
IndustryInfrastructure / Payments
The story
Pagar.me was founded in 2013 as a Brazilian payment gateway by Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi (later founders of Brex). Acquired by StoneCo in 2016, it has since been positioned as Stone's online payments technology — evolving from a pure gateway into a full PSP combining gateway and sub-acquirer functionality. The current strategic focus is digital payments infrastructure (cards, Pix, recurring billing, split payments) for e-commerce, marketplaces and platforms in Brazil, with growing compliance scaffolding for marketplace operations under BACEN rules.
Product timeline
2013
Founded as a payment gateway in Brazil by Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi.· founding
2016
Acquired by StoneCo for tens of millions of dollars.· acquisition
2017
Founders left to start Brex in the US.· pivot
2020
Evolved from payment gateway into full PSP (payment service provider) under Stone.· product
2024
Adaptation to BACEN Circular 3.978/20 and Resolution 264/349 — KYC with biometric proof of life, new submerchant/seller registration rules for marketplaces.· regulatory
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by Pagar.me
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
3 layers disclosed in Pagar.me’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Pagar.me (self-operated, Stone subsidiary)Stone (parent acquirer)GetNetCieloPagSeguroERedeSafraPay
KYC
in the full report
Accounting
in the full report
Accounting gap: minor
2 more providers across 2 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.