The private investment arm of the Inter-American Development Bank backed Stone Instituição de Pagamento, a Brazilian fintech platform known as Stone, with R$295 million ($50 million) to expand its credit offerings for small businesses in Legal Amazonia. The Amazon region spans nine states and more than half of Brazil’s territory, but limited access to formal financial services and weak digital infrastructure have constrained its economic potential.
The deal is part of IDB Invest’s $455 million Amazonia Forever initiative. Its larger deals include $130 million to expand clean water and sanitation in Manaus, a $36 million sustainability-linked bond with Natura to support regenerative sourcing and bioeconomy development, and Bolivia’s first gender social bond.
Small business finance
The Stone deal is one of several recent IDB-led efforts to expand access to finance for small businesses across Latin America
In Honduras, IDB Invest approved a $30 million short-term credit line to support BAC Honduras in scaling trade finance for small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in international trade. The investment will provide working capital and liquidity for export-oriented businesses that have traditionally faced limited access to affordable credit.
Small businesses in Honduras account for approximately 60% of GDP and 70% of employment, yet only an estimated 10% of trade is supported by formal trade finance instruments, among the lowest penetration rates in Latin America.
Separately, the Inter-American Development Bank extended a $50 million sovereign-backed loan to Barbados to strengthen the country’s small business sector, which makes up over 90% of businesses and 60% of private-sector employment.
