Brex, the billion-dollar startup backed by Peter Thiel and Y Combinator, plans to launch a new card for more mature fintechs

Brex

Pedro Franceschi (left) and Henrique Dubugras are the cofounders of Brex.

• Brex, a startup that issues corporate credit cards to early-stage companies, plans to launch a new offering in April with more mature accounting features.
• The new card, which has yet to be named, will allow companies' financial departments to review and approve purchases made on the card.
• With the launch of the product, Brex is aiming to meet the evolving needs of its startup client base, some of which want more accounting controls.

Startups' needs evolve quickly.

Brex understands that better than most. The San Francisco-based startup built a $1.1 billion business in just over two years catering specifically towards young companies.

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Brex offers corporate credit cards to startups with no personal guarantee or credit history required, instead setting a credit limit based on companies' available cash balance.

But just as Brex has grown, so too have its clients. Companies Brex served in its infancy now have more mature financial needs.

That's why Brex has plans to launch a new card in April geared specifically towards more established startups, according to people familiar with the matter. The new card, which has yet to be named, will feature more detailed accounting controls, including the ability to review and approve purchases, and better integration with firms' accounting software like QuickBooks, Expensify, Xero, and NetSuite.

A Brex spokesperson declined to comment on the new offering.

Read more: It took only a year and a half for these 22-year-olds to build a billion-dollar company. Here's how they did it.

Brex's current offering has become popular among startups in Silicon Valley, where obtaining a corporate credit card can sometimes be a painstaking process due to the company's lack of credit history. The card functions as a charge card, meaning users need to pay their balance in full at the end of each billing cycle.

However, as Brex's client base matures, spending needs become more complex. Often times, a company's CFO would prefer to move spending off a card and instead deal with invoices, which are easier to maintain and oversee from an accounting perspective.

See more: A buzzy startup raised $57 million from Peter Thiel and Y Combinator using these 19 slides

The newest offering allows Brex to keep pace with some of the evolved needs of its clients, according to a person familiar with the matter. A separate card will be created, as opposed to updating the current card, in an effort to avoid overwhelming startups with less sophisticated needs, the person added.

There is already an appetite for the new card. Between 50 and 100 of Brex's current clients will migrate to the new card upon its launch, the person said.

Brex has already had a busy 2019. In February, the startup launched a card specifically for ecommerce. Built to help firms manage the ebbs and flows of inventory costs, clients using the ecommerce card have 60 days to payback each expense, as opposed to a bills being consolidated to one payment due every 30 days.