Caetano Lacerda & Raphael Dyxklay (Barte) on How to Win Mid-to-Large B2B Customers in Latin America

Jun 3, 2025

Caetano Lacerda and Raphael Dyxklay, co-founders of Brazilian fintech Barte, discuss their impressive journey from $0 to $20M ARR, focusing on innovative growth strategies. They highlight the power of building in public as a tool for attraction and trust. Insights on navigating Brazilian market complexities and prioritizing product bets provide a fresh perspective on B2B success. Additionally, they stress the importance of adapting to customer feedback and the role of AI in streamlining payment processes for sustainable growth in Latin America.

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INSIGHT

Implementing AI for Efficiency

Barte uses AI to reduce fraud and friction by automating customer verification and support document requests.
AI technology significantly improves operational efficiency and customer experience without adding staff.

ADVICE

Start with Core Payment Solutions

Begin product development with the biggest pain point: charging customers.
Expand horizontally to related working capital and payment needs to maintain coherence and scale effectively.

ADVICE

Prioritize What Truly Matters

Focus intensely on priorities that create real value and deprioritize non-transformational activities.
Sustainable growth comes from disciplined execution, not rapid but unfocused scaling.

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Welcome to Season 4 of The J Curve with me, Olga Maslikhova.

This week, I sit down with Caetano Lacerda and Raphael Dyxklay, co-founders of Brazilian fintech Barte, which is transforming the payments and working capital landscape for mid-to-large companies.

Barte’s journey is a masterclass in efficient growth: from zero to $10M ARR in less than two years on just $1.5M of burn—and then growing sustainably to $20M ARR. Along the way, they’ve pioneered a build-in-public strategy that attracts customers, builds trust, and fosters engagement. They’ve also developed sharp insights into segmenting by use case rather than industry, prioritizing speed and first-principles thinking, and leveraging customer feedback to scale efficiently—insights that have become part of their DNA and that they generously share in this conversation.

Here’s what we cover:

What founders need to know about horizontal vs. vertical strategies in B2B
Why building in public is more than a marketing tactic—it’s a B2B growth engine
How to find product-market fit in fragmented, high-friction industries
What Brazilian complexity taught Barte about opportunity and execution
Lessons in prioritizing product bets when everything feels urgent

This episode is the second in a special three-part series brought to you by AWS.

AWS has become a key growth partner for Latin America’s startup ecosystem—helping founders scale from idea to IPO with world-class cloud infrastructure, local expertise, and a global support network. We’re incredibly happy to partner with them.

For founders and investors who see Latin America’s friction as an opportunity—and fintech as the future—this conversation is a must-listen.