OUR STORY
It started on the mat, moved through the discipline of regulated global finance, and became Fernando Fayzano’s conviction that creators deserve the infrastructure to control what they build.
SCROLL TO ENTER THE STORY ↓THE ORIGIN / 001
He trained for pressure. Built regulated fintech companies. Moved money across borders. Assembled operators across talent, payments, engineering, and AI. Velvet is what happens when that experience is focused on giving creators command of their own business.
FRAME 01 / DISCIPLINE BECOMES DIRECTIONCHAPTER 01 / THE FIGHTER–CEO
ORIGINTHE MAT → FINTECH → GLOBAL PAYMENTS → VELVETFernando Fayzano’s story begins with discipline. His Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background—including years connected to Rickson Gracie’s school—trained him to prepare, control position, remain patient, and execute when the stakes are highest.
He carried that mindset into regulated financial technology, where weak infrastructure is exposed immediately. The lesson became the foundation for Velvet: creators should not have to improvise the business behind their content. They need one serious operating system built for pressure, ownership, and growth.
“Discipline creates freedom when the system is designed to perform under pressure.”
FRAME 02 / TALENT BECOMES A BUSINESSCHAPTER 02 / THE MODEL
Marcelo Galles arrived in Hollywood as an international model. Then he made the harder transformation: from being represented to building the machine that represents others.
Across modeling, casting, editorial, entertainment, and major-brand work, Marcelo saw the industry from both sides. He understood how much creator value disappeared between the image and the opportunity—and how often talent was kept distant from the relationships that moved a career forward.
His conviction became Velvet’s second rule: creators do not need another gatekeeper. They need command of the business behind their image.
FRAME 03 / VISION BECOMES A SYSTEMCHAPTER 03 / THE CEO
Fernando built Pontual Money Transfer and USend, helping move money across borders before cross-border fintech became a headline. USend was later acquired by Banco Inter.
That experience showed him that a platform is only as strong as the infrastructure behind it: identity, compliance, technology, trust, and the systems that move value. He saw creators facing the same operational problem—building serious businesses across disconnected tools they did not control.
As CEO and principal inspiration behind Velvet, Fernando set the direction: unite the creator business in one command center, surround the vision with proven talent and technology leaders, and build for ownership from the beginning.
CHAPTER 04 / THE INFRASTRUCTURE
Fernando assembled a technical bench with deep experience in engineering, payments, compliance, and cross-border operations—including Bibhu Aryal, Robson Teixeira, and fintech builder Ran Grushkowsky.
Ran’s background spans WireCash, USend, and MassPay, where he now serves as co-founder and CEO. It is the kind of experience Velvet needs: turning regulatory and financial complexity into systems people can actually use.
One operating view from audience signal to available earnings.
HÉLOINE MORENO / CREATOR POINT OF VIEWCHAPTER 05 / THE CREATOR
Heloine Moreno brings the perspective of a working model, traveler, performer, and founder. Through Models Guidance, her world moves across modeling, events, food, samba, ring work, burlesque, and a global life lived in public.
She knows the distance between posting and building. Between being seen and being paid. Between an audience that follows and a business that belongs to you.
See Heloine Moreno on Instagram ↗THE COLLISION / 006
WHY VELVET EXISTS
Velvet is building a different future: a creator monetization platform and operating system designed for premium and adult creators who treat their audience like a company—not a side hustle.
Content, audience, access, production intelligence, and payouts belong in one command center. Not scattered across sixteen tabs. Not held hostage by algorithms. Not separated from the person creating the value.
THE PEOPLE / 007
Not one industry looking in from the outside. An ensemble built across the worlds Velvet is bringing together.
Fernando Fayzano is the principal founder, CEO, and inspiration behind Velvet. A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner turned fintech builder, he transformed a fighter’s discipline into an operating advantage—building regulated cross-border payment companies, assembling an experienced technology team, and setting the vision for a creator platform built on control, resilience, and financial independence.
Marcelo Galles is a former international model who transformed himself in Hollywood into an agency operator. He brings a rare view from both sides of the camera—understanding how talent, casting, brands, representation, and opportunity must work together to build a durable creator career.
CTO Ran Grushkowsky leads with Bibhu Aryal, Lead Architect, and Robson Teixeira, Chief AI Officer—an all-star technology lineup with deep experience across engineering, global payouts, AML/KYC, regulated financial systems, and AI products built to perform at scale.
Heloine Moreno is a former international model turned UGC creator, influencer, performer, and founder of Models Guidance. Her experience building an audience across fashion, travel, music videos, premium content, and global brand collaborations keeps Velvet grounded in the daily reality of the creator behind the screen.
See Heloine on Instagram ↗THE NEXT CHAPTER IS NOT ABOUT US.
Velvet is assembling a founding cohort of ambitious adult creators, founder-creators, and operators who want more than another place to post.
Apply to become a Founder Creator →