In the mining-dependent municipality of Itabira, a financial technology startup has quietly moved roughly R$ 1.8 billion in assets since its founding in 2019. Founded by Bruno Guerra, Precato specializes in purchasing judicial debts owed by government entities, operating entirely outside the mineral extraction industry that historically dominates the region.
While approximately 82% of the local economy in Itabira remains directly or indirectly tied to mining, Guerra built a financial services operation that now employs around 230 people. More than 200 of those workers are based locally, with about 90% of the company’s total workforce remaining in the city rather than migrating to major urban hubs like São Paulo or Belo Horizonte.
“We know that when the ore runs out, the company leaves and the city has to fend for itself,” Guerra notes regarding the region’s long-term economic vulnerability. While a single company is far from solving the problem of economic diversification in Itabira, building a tech and financial services employer locally helps establish alternative career paths outside the shadow of the mining sector.
From Consignment Credit to Precatório Trading
The origins of Precato trace back far beyond its official 2019 launch. In 2005, Guerra and André, his partner and co-founder, started their first entrepreneurial venture together in Itabira as young business partners operating in the payroll-deducted loan sector. Within five years, that initial enterprise grew into a major correspondent for Banco Bonsucesso in the segment. At the height of the relationship, the two were responsible for about 30% of the volume handled by the bank in that area before the founders exited the operation around 2015.
During their years in consumer lending, the founders observed a pattern among retirees and pensioners who held judicial debts owed by the state. Instead of selling these court-ordered claims—known in Brazil as precatórios and smaller requisições de pequeno valor (RPVs)—clients frequently took out new payroll loans carrying monthly interest burdens. Recognizing the inefficiency of holding a government-backed receivable while simultaneously paying off a consumer loan, the partners established the foundational thesis for Precato.
The operational model relies on purchasing these judicial claims at a discount from holders who prefer immediate liquidity rather than waiting years for government disbursements. Precato consolidates these assets within a specialized investment fund known as an FIDC (Fundo de Investimento em Direitos Creditórios), which receives capital from investors, so far mostly institutional, to finance new purchases. The company itself invests in a subordinated portion of the fund, which absorbs initial portfolio risks. In 2025, the company purchased slightly over R$ 500 million in assets.
Engineering Talent Pipelines and Regional Growth
Sustaining a high-growth financial institution in a city of little more than 100,000 residents presented an immediate operational hurdle regarding talent acquisition. To bridge the gap, the company tapped into a local educational resource: the Itabira campus of the Federal University of Itajubá (Unifei), which had received investments from Vale and the municipality and matured in the years prior to the creation of Precato. The university is concentrated in engineering courses.
Engineering students from Unifei routinely entered the firm as interns. Today, out of roughly 30 minority shareholders at Precato, 14 came from Unifei and began their professional trajectories as interns originating from the local university campus.
Despite its internal progress, the company faces distinct market hurdles. According to Guerra, Brazil’s total stock of outstanding precatórios hovers around R$ 300 billion, with approximately R$ 75 billion generated annually in new assets. However, actual annual assignment volumes remain between R$ 2 billion and R$ 3 billion—as many eligible creditors remain unfamiliar with selling their claims as a viable financial option. Additionally, regulatory shifts in public debt rules enacted by Congress, the courts, or the public entities themselves routinely impact the underlying assets, requiring the firm to continuously adapt its internal compliance and analytical operations.
With the enterprise expanding at an average clip of 50% per year, management continues to prioritize internal professional development programs in Itabira to sustain operations without relocating core infrastructure to larger metropolitan centers.
