| Human Profile | |
| Name: | Henrique Vasconcelos Dubugras |
| Education: | Escola Estadual Bendito Matarazo (Diploma) Instituto Alpha Lumen (Student), Complementary Studies Stanford University (Dropped Out), Computer Science |
Overview
Henrique Vasconcelos Dubugras is a Brazilian entrepreneur and co-CEO of Brex, known for his early start in coding, co-founding the payment processor Pagar.me, and building the corporate spend management platform Brex into a multi-billion dollar company after twice dropping out of Stanford University to pursue his ventures.
Latest News (Jan 9, 2026): Henrique Dubugras, a director at MercadoLibre, had the sale of 845 shares of the company's stock reported between January 3rd and January 6th, 2026. The transaction, which occurred on December 12th, sold shares at an average price of $2,028.14, totaling $1,713,778.30.
Early Life and Education
Henrique Vasconcelos Dubugras was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1995. He developed an interest in technology and coding at a young age. At 12 years old, motivated by a desire to play a paid video game his parents wouldn’t purchase for him, he learned to code to access it for free. This early experience with programming led him to create his own online game servers.
By the age of 14, he launched a digital gaming venture but had to cease operations due to patent violations. When he was 16, Dubugras co-founded EduqueMe, a crowdfunding company aimed at helping Latin American students attend top colleges in the United States. He also started a project called “Estudar nos EUA” to share information about studying abroad.
Inspired by the television show “Chuck,” Dubugras set a goal to attend Stanford University. After being accepted, he moved to California to pursue his studies. However, his time at Stanford was brief; he dropped out after eight months to focus on his entrepreneurial ventures.
Career Beginnings with Pagar.me
In 2012, while still in high school in Brazil, Henrique Vasconcelos Dubugras met his future business partner, Pedro Franceschi, through an argument on Twitter. Their shared passion for technology and programming led to a friendship and business partnership.
Together, at the age of 16, they founded Pagar.me in 2013, a payment processing company described as the “Stripe of Brazil”. The company aimed to provide a new way for consumers to pay for online purchases. Pagar.me grew quickly, processing $1.5 billion in transactions and employing over 100 people by 2016. In 2016, Dubugras and Franceschi sold Pagar.me to a larger Brazilian company.
Founding of Brex
After selling Pagar.me, Dubugras and Franceschi enrolled at Stanford University in 2016. They dropped out after less than a year to start a new venture. Initially, they explored a virtual reality startup but soon pivoted, realizing their passion was in finance technology.
The idea for their next company, Brex, came from their own experiences and observations while at Y Combinator, a startup accelerator that funded their idea. They noticed that many startup founders, especially immigrants without a U.S. credit history, struggled to obtain corporate credit cards. Banks often required personal guarantees, which posed a significant hurdle for new businesses.
In 2017, they founded Brex to address this problem by offering a corporate credit card specifically designed for startups. Instead of relying on traditional credit scores, Brex determines creditworthiness based on a company’s real-time financial data.
Major Work with Brex
As co-CEO of Brex, Henrique Vasconcelos Dubugras leads the company’s mission to reinvent corporate finance. Brex started by providing corporate credit cards for startups and has since expanded its offerings to become a comprehensive spend management platform. The platform now includes global corporate cards, travel, and spend management software powered by artificial intelligence for a wide range of businesses, from startups to large enterprises.
The company experienced rapid growth, becoming one of the fastest American companies to achieve a multi-billion dollar valuation. Brex has raised significant funding from investors and serves tens of thousands of businesses globally.
Impact and Personal Life
Henrique Vasconcelos Dubugras is recognized as a prominent young entrepreneur in the fintech industry. He has been featured in publications for his rapid success in building two significant financial technology companies.
Beyond his role at Brex, he serves on the boards of Expedia Group and Mercado Libre. He also volunteers as an adviser at Instituto Alpha Lumen, an organization near his hometown in Brazil that focuses on education and fundraising.
Dubugras is married to Laura Fiuza. He resides in Los Angeles, California, and holds Brazilian citizenship.
After Brex I had decided I didn’t want to start another company. But I found my calling. I’m starting another fintech company that can change the world. I wasn’t looking to startup another startup but this one was impossible not to. The opportunity is too big. But the problem is…
— Henrique Dubugras (@hdubugras) December 7, 2025