NeoSpace

AI · Fintech · Banking

Acquisition

Itau to acquire Brazilian AI startup NeoSpace for $589M in cash deal

The bank is converting a two-year vendor relationship into outright ownership of the model layer that already drives its credit and fraud decisions.

• Itau Unibanco agreed to buy all shares of NeoSpace AI Technologies for 2.925 billion reais (about $589 million), paid in cash with part due at closing and the rest deferred over five years.
• NeoSpace, founded in 2023, builds tabular foundation models under its NeoData platform that find patterns in large datasets for credit scoring, CRM and fraud prevention at banks, insurers and telecoms.
• Itau already had skin in the game: it led an $18 million round in early 2025 that gave it a 15% stake in NeoSpace, alongside angel investors including Ribbit's Micky Malka and General Atlantic's Martin Escobari.
• NeoSpace will keep operating autonomously with its own management structure, and founder Bruno Pierobon stays on as CEO after the deal closes.
• The acquisition still needs approval from Brazil's antitrust regulator CADE and the Banco Central do Brasil before it can close.
• By buying the model layer outright rather than licensing it, Itau turns NeoSpace from a shared vendor into a proprietary asset, leaving any other bank or insurer that used its technology dependent on a direct competitor.