By Gabriel Araujo

SAO PAULO Fintech Clara is moving its headquarters from Mexico to Brazil after obtaining a central bank license to operate as a payment institution, a move set to boost the firm's expansion in the country it sees becoming its top market by next year.

Chief Executive Gerry Giacoman said in an interview that the license, published in Brazil's official gazette on Wednesday, will allow Clara to launch new products in Latin America's largest economy, where its monthly transactions already total about 100 million reais ($20.8 million).

The goal for the corporate credit provider, which also offers expense management products, is to double that amount in 2024, Giacoman said.

With the payment institution license, he noted, Clara will be able to expand its footprint in Brazil by offering products such as express wire transfers (TEDs) and deposits via the popular instant payment system, PIX.

Clara, which is backed by investors such as monashees and Citi Ventures, had in 2021 joined an exclusive club of less than a dozen Mexican unicorns, or startups valued at $1 billion or more.

Despite the change in headquarters, Giacoman said, the company will continue to operate normally in Mexico and Colombia, its other markets.

"We are in three big Latin American countries and focus will remain on them, but mainly Brazil," Giacoman said. "Brazil is the market where Clara is growing the fastest, by 2024 it will be our biggest market globally."

Clara clients in Brazil, which total some 2,000, include Starbucks, shopping mall operator BRMalls and gym chain Smartfit.

Earlier this year, the fintech secured $90 million in debt funding from Accial Capital and raised $60 million in an equity round led by GGV Capital.

($1 = 4.8023 reais)

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Sharon Singleton)