Brex is once again shaking up the fintech space—this time by partnering with another former rival. The company has teamed up with procurement startup Zip to launch a new integrated product, a move both CEOs say was driven by strong customer demand.
Originally known for serving startups with corporate cards, Brex has steadily evolved into a more complex player in the financial software space. Back in 2022, it announced a pivot toward enterprise solutions and recurring software revenue. Yet even after this shift, most of its revenue still comes from interchange fees, not software subscriptions. Recognizing its limitations in building certain enterprise features from scratch, Brex began rethinking how to scale its offerings.
That led to a surprise partnership last year with Navan (formerly TripActions), allowing Brex to combine its cards with Navan’s travel management tools. Now, Brex is rolling out “Brex for Zip,” a collaboration that embeds its virtual card capabilities into Zip’s procurement platform. The goal? To help large enterprises streamline how they manage procurement, control spend, and centralize payments—all through a single card system.
Both companies serve tens of thousands of businesses and share clients such as Coinbase, Zapier, BetterUp, Anthropic, Carta, and Wiz. According to Brex CEO Pedro Franceschi, this overlap made the partnership a no-brainer. Zip co-founder Rujul Zaparde echoed the sentiment, saying the decision was largely shaped by feedback from mutual customers who wanted a more unified solution.
The numbers suggest the strategy is working. Brex saw its enterprise revenue grow by 70% in Q1, while its net revenue retention in the segment climbed over 130%. Zip also had a record-breaking quarter with 155% growth in strategic enterprise accounts. Zip’s ability to support more complex procurement processes was a key differentiator. Franceschi admitted that while Brex could meet the needs of fast-moving startups, its enterprise ambitions needed outside reinforcement.
That humility is worth noting. Brex has openly acknowledged it tried to scale too quickly. In 2022, co-founder Henrique Dubugras admitted the company needed to focus more intentionally. Fast forward to 2024, and Brex is now embracing a strategy that favors smart partnerships over solo product expansion.
Behind this shift is also a focus on financial sustainability. After burning an estimated $17 million a month at the end of 2023, Brex laid off nearly 20% of its workforce in January. Franceschi says those moves are paying off. By the first quarter of 2024, cash burn was down 90% year-over-year, and Brex expects to become profitable by the end of the year.
Still, Franceschi isn’t rushing toward an IPO. While going public remains a goal, he says the company wants to ensure it has the right governance structure and market readiness before taking that step.
For now, partnerships like this one with Zip allow Brex to double down on what it does best—corporate financial infrastructure—while letting others handle specialized enterprise functions. The same logic drove its team-up with Navan for travel expense management.
It’s a strategy increasingly embraced across fintech: rather than build everything in-house, companies are choosing to collaborate with startups that already offer strong solutions. This “coopetition” approach—where competitors become allies—has gained momentum. Carta, for example, dropped plans to build a product and instead invested in SimpleClosure’s $15 million round.
For Brex and Zip, the partnership was less about strategy on paper and more about solving real problems for users. As Zaparde put it, the collaboration was “pulled out of us by our customers.” Franceschi agrees, saying the goal was to create an experience where “one plus one equals five.”
If their combined momentum continues, the Brex Zip partnership could set a new standard for how fintechs grow in the enterprise era.
