NeoSpace A.I. Technologies

Fintech · Artificial Intelligence · Banking

Acquisition

Itaú Unibanco to acquire Brazilian AI startup NeoSpace for $589M

The deal shows Latin America's largest bank betting it can build frontier AI in-house rather than license it from outside foundation-model providers.

• Itaú Unibanco agreed to buy all shares of NeoSpace A.I. Technologies for R$2.925 billion ($589M), paid in cash with part due at closing and the rest deferred over five years.
• NeoSpace, founded in 2023, builds foundational AI models trained on large-scale datasets to spot complex patterns, and has quietly powered Itaú's credit, CRM and fraud tools for nearly two years.
• Closing requires approval from Brazil's antitrust regulator CADE and the Central Bank; founder Bruno Pierobon stays on as CEO and NeoSpace keeps autonomous management and its research team.
• Itaú had already led an $18 million investment round into NeoSpace in early 2025, a stake that has since ballooned into a $589 million full buyout.
• NeoSpace's models are expected to feed Itaú's "ia.i" generative AI assistant, part of a broader push to personalize credit, financial guidance and service for its customer base.
• The acquisition signals a shift among big banks from renting AI capability to owning proprietary foundation models outright, reducing reliance on outside vendors for core financial decisions.