Vinicius Correa is the co-founder of the fintech company Swap and the cryptocurrency startup Crown ^{[1] [2]}. His career has been centered on developing financial infrastructure and technology platforms within Brazil's market, beginning with Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and later transitioning to stablecoins and decentralized finance ^{[2] [3]}.

Education

Correa attended the Universidade de São Paulo (USP), where he studied computer science ^{[2] [1]}. Reports indicate he earned a bachelor's degree in the field, with his attendance dated between 2008 and 2013 by one source and 2011 to 2016 by another ^{[2] [1]}.

Career

Early Ventures and Fintech Experience

Before his major entrepreneurial ventures, Vinicius Correa gained experience as a software engineer in Brazil's technology sector. Following an early entrepreneurial effort co-founding a project named "I'm in!" from approximately December 2011 to September 2012, he worked as a software engineer at Scup, a social media monitoring company. He remained at Scup for over three years, until December 2015, which served as a basis for working with digital assets. ^[1].

In January 2016, Correa joined Nubank, which would become one of Latin America's largest digital banks. During his two-year tenure at the company as a software engineer, he gained direct experience in the rapidly growing fintech industry that would inform his subsequent ventures ^[1]. Some professional profiles also note prior experience at firms such as Pismo, Itaú BBA, and Goldman Sachs ^[2].

Swap

In 2018, Vinicius Correa co-founded Swap alongside Douglas Storf and Ury Rappaport ^{[2] [1] [3]}. Correa's role in the company has been reported as both Co-founder & CEO and Co-founder & Head of Engineering ^{[2] [3]}. Swap was established as a "Banking as a Service" (BaaS) and "fintech-as-a-service" platform, designed to provide the financial infrastructure and technology via APIs for non-financial companies to build and launch their own financial products ^{[2] [1]}.

The platform functions by offering a suite of APIs that handle the complex regulatory and technological requirements of financial services. This allows client companies—which can range from e-commerce platforms to delivery apps—to focus on their core business while still offering branded financial products like digital wallets and card issuing. By providing this underlying "plumbing," Swap aimed to accelerate the trend of embedded finance in Brazil, where nearly any company can become a fintech company ^[1].

In late 2020 and early 2021, Swap announced a seed funding round, securing investment from notable venture capital firms. Reports indicate the company raised $3.3 million in a round that included Global Founders Capital (GFC), ONEVC, and Flourish Ventures, with participation from Canary and other angel investors ^{[4] [2]}. Correa remained with Swap until around September 2022, after which he transitioned to his next venture ^[1].

Crown

Following his tenure at Swap, Correa co-founded the stablecoin startup Crown around October 2022 ^[1]. His role at Crown has been variously reported as Co-founder, CEO, and Principal Engineer ^{[2] [3] [1]}. He co-founded the company with individuals including John Delaney, formerly of the crypto custody firm Fireblocks, and Alexandre Castanheira ^{[2] [1]}.

The stated mission of Crown is to create a regulated, transparent, and compliant stablecoin for the Brazilian market, intended to serve as a foundational asset and a reliable on-ramp for decentralized finance (DeFi) and the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) in Brazil ^[2]. The company's primary product is the BRLV, a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the Brazilian Real (BRL) ^[1]. The vision for Crown is to provide a digital asset that acts as a bridge between the traditional Brazilian financial system and the emerging world of global, decentralized finance. By creating a fully backed stablecoin, the company aims to offer a low-volatility asset that can be used for payments, remittances, trading, and as collateral in DeFi protocols. Its emphasis on regulation and transparency is intended to build trust with both individual users and institutional partners ^[2].

Funding

Crown attracted significant attention from venture capital investors. An early seed round of $8.1 million was led by Framework Ventures, with participation from Valor Capital Group, Coinbase Ventures, Norte Ventures, and Paxos. The round also included an investment from Ed Wible, a co-founder of Nubank, highlighting a connection to Correa's former employer ^[1].

The company's most high-profile funding event was a 90 million ^{[2] [3] [1]}. Other investors reported to have participated in the company's funding include Standard Crypto and Robot Ventures ^[2].