Brex has once again surprised everyone by partnering up with a former competitor, Zip, as revealed exclusively to TechCrunch by the CEOs of both companies.

Back in April 2022, fintech Brex announced that it was expanding its focus on both enterprise and software services. This move was quite significant since Brex had originally started out as a startup catering to startups by providing corporate cards primarily for startups and small to medium-sized businesses. However, Brex gradually transformed its model to become a “financial operating system” for companies.

When Brex decided to venture into software, the aim was to diversify its revenue sources. Instead of solely relying on interchange fees for income, the company wanted to also earn recurring revenue from software subscriptions. Despite this, Brex came to the realization that there were some aspects of serving enterprise customers that it wasn’t quite equipped to handle in the way it desired. The majority of its revenue still came from interchange fees, although software revenue was steadily increasing.

In a surprising move last fall, Brex announced a partnership with Navan to introduce “BrexPay for Navan,” combining corporate card services with Navan’s travel management to cater to enterprises. This partnership raised some eyebrows since Navan, formerly known as TripActions, expanded from travel services to overall expense management post-COVID, making it a direct competitor to Brex.

Now, Brex has announced another partnership aimed at enhancing its offerings to the enterprise sector by teaming up with Zip, a five-year-old procurement startup, to introduce “Brex for Zip.” This new collaboration integrates Brex’s virtual cards directly into Zip’s platform with the goal of streamlining procurement and payment processes for enterprises while preventing unauthorized spending and simplifying global operations with a single card program.

Brex co-founder and CEO Pedro Franceschi and Zip CEO and co-founder Rujul Zaparde highlighted that the partnership made sense due to their combined customer base of over 30,000 businesses, some of which overlap. Both companies have a strong focus on expanding their enterprise customer base and believe that the new joint offering will strengthen their positions in that segment.

Brex experienced a 70% growth in enterprise revenue and over 130% net revenue retention in the first quarter, while Zip saw a record-breaking quarter with 155% growth in its strategic enterprise segment. The collaboration between Brex and Zip showcases an example of “coopetition,” where cooperation and competition intersect in the fintech industry, aligning with the trend of companies partnering to enhance their services based on customer feedback.