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LATAM VENTURE BULLETIN
A must read roundup of startup deals and news on emerging technologies in Latin
America, delivered to over 7,000 investors, entrepreneurs and corporates bi-weekly.
February 23, 2023 |
Editor’s note: The LatAm Venture Bulletin is produced by Carlos Ramos de la Vega, LAVCA’s Director of Venture Capital. | TLDR
📣 Investment and Operating Trends in LAVCA’s 2023 Trends in Tech and Startup Founders Survey
📣 New Rounds for: Buk, Erco Energía, Vexi, Grupo RV, Datamart, Estoca and Vaas
📣 Funds | IDB Lab invests in monashees X; Caravela Capital reaches first close
📣 Startup M&A | Celcoin acquires Finansytech, Mendel acquires Te Facturo, Pravaler acquires Workalove and PicPay acquires BX Blue |
| | Despite a significant downturn in VC investment compared to 2021, VC remained the second largest asset class in Latin America in 2022 as a proportion of total private capital invested.
Our annual Trends in Tech report breaks down 2022 VC investment data, top deals, highlighted transactions and most active investors, as well as round size analysis and country-specific trends.
Notable analysis in this year’s report includes: The rise of venture debt investing and opportunities for structured financing Analysis on investment activity by investment stage The emergence of cleantech and biotech LAVCA Members can log in and download an accompanying LAVCA Data Pack with fundraising and disclosed closings; exits; all disclosed transactions, sortable by stage, sector and HQ; stage analysis for the major markets, round size analysis, and sector breakouts with year-over-year sector growth. |
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LAVCA conducted a Startup Founders Survey to capture how 160+ venture-backed founders are responding to a radically different macroeconomic context in the Latin American tech ecosystem, following a sustained period of significant growth, with a record USD16b in VC investment deployed in 2021, according to LAVCA Data.
Founders across 10 countries submitted substantive responses, which are the basis for new aggregate financial and operating benchmarks, with new aggregate insights on valuation, revenue growth and workforce composition.
LAVCA Members can log in to download the 2023 Startup Founders Survey Excel file. Non-members can purchase access to the data.
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| | ▸ HRTECH | Base10 Partners and Greenoaks invested USD35m in Buk, a Chilean employee management platform. Buk raised a USD50m Series A led by Greenoaks and SoftBank in October 2021 at a USD417m valuation. ▸ CLEANTECH | Norfund, a Norwegian development finance institution, invested USD30m in Erco Energía, a Colombian startup developing electric vehicle charging and solar energy storage facilities. FCP Innovación led a USD6m round in 2021. ▸ XP Asset, the asset management arm of XP Investimentos, acquired a minority stake in One7, a Brazilian lending platform for SMEs, for USD20m.
▸ Magma Partners led a USD8m round for Vexi, a Mexican credit card issuer, with participation from Redwood Ventures and Rebalance Capital, and follow-on from Alpha4Ventures, Noa Capital and Pomona Impact.
Magma Partners and Accial Capital led a USD24m equity and debt round in April 2022; Fuse Capital made an undisclosed debt investment in October 2020. ▸ LAST MILE | One Easy Top, a Colombian last mile delivery service aggregator, raised USD8m from undisclosed investors to expand to Mexico, Brazil and India.
▸ PROPTECH | Oria Capital led a ~USD7.1m round for Grupo RV, a Brazilian real estate inspection management platform, with participation from G5 Investimentos, and follow-on from DOMO Invest and Terracotta Ventures.
▸ Datamart, a Chilean consumer credit diligence platform, raised USD6.3m from Moonvalley Capital, Banco Santander, Grupo Falabella and BICE.
▸ LAST MILE | Astella Investimentos led a USD6.1m round for Estoca, a Brazilian inventory management and last mile delivery platform for e-commerce brands, with participation from FJ Labs and Korean FO Irongrey, and follow-on from Canary and Marathon Ventures.
Canary first invested in March 2020. ▸ WOMEN-LED | Andreessen Horowitz led a USD5m seed round for Vaas, a Colombian brokerage platform for private and structured debt for startups, with participation from NAZCA, Clocktower Ventures, Marathon Ventures, MAYA Capital and Latitud. Angels who participated include Sebastian Mejia and Andres Bilbao (Rappi), Gokul Rajaram (DoorDash), Brynn McNulty (Habi), Daniel Bilbao (Truora), Manolo Atala (Fairplay), James Sagan (Architect Capital) and Keri Findley (Tacora Capital). Vaas was co-founded by Valentina Valencia. ▸ US-based crypto mining startup Arthur Mining raised ~USD4.7m from FO PM&F and others to launch operations in Brazil. Fuse Capital and FO Green Rock invested USD2m in September 2021. ▸ QUASH.ai, a Miami-based consumer credit analytics platform for SMEs in Latin America, raised a USD3.7m seed round from HTwenty, G2 Momentum and Q Capital Venture Capital, and angels Alex Porto (Riverwood Capital) and Barak Kaufman (Insight Partners).
▸ CLEANTECH |Crescera Capital and EDP Ventures invested ~USD2.8m in 77Sol, a Brazilian renewable energy marketplace connecting solar panel installers with residential property owners.
▸ Brazilian asset manager Sollis Investimentos invested ~USD1m in Ulend, a Brazilian debt financing platform for medium-sized companies.
DEBT | Ulend also secured ~USD7m in debt financing to expand its credit origination portfolio. ▸ Brazilian venture builder Centro de Estudos e Sistemas Avançados do Recife (CESAR) led a ~USD800k pre-seed round for Allugg, a Brazilian IT systems rental platform for SMEs, with participation from angels Rodrigo Helcer (Stilingue) and Carlos Boschetti (BCP Claro).
▸ RIDESHARE | Vai, a Colombian carpooling platform for college students, raised USD530k from BDO ScaleUP, PEMP and undisclosed angels.
▸ Chilean VC Hero Capital and Daedalus VC led a USD450k pre-seed round for Wibo, a Chilean on-site rewards management platform for retailers.
▸ EDTECH | DOMO Invest led a ~USD280k for Kiddle Pass, a Brazilian education platform for company employees, with participation from BossaNova Investimentos and COREangels Edutech.
▸ AGTECH |GridX invested USD200k in ByBug, a Chilean insect-based fertilizer manufacturer.
▸ Vida60Mais, a Brazilian marketplace for senior consumers and retailers, raised ~USD150k from undisclosed investors.
▸ AGTECH | The Yield Lab Latam led an undisclosed round for The Climate Box, a Uruguay-based weather monitoring and frost risk management platform for crops, with participation from Spanish VC Label Investments.
This is The Yield Lab Latam’s first known investment in a Uruguay-based startup. ▸ G2 Momentum Capital invested in MIDAS, a Mexico-based robo advisor for retail customers interested in investing in the US public market.
▸ Kamay Ventures invested in Ruedata, a Colombia- and Mexico-based vehicle fleet management platform.
▸ Brazilian FO Aimorés Investimentos invested in BonifiQ, a Brazilian rewards program for e-commerce customers.
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| Funds ▸ IDB Lab made an undisclosed commitment in monashees X, monashees’ tenth flagship fund with a USD350m target to invest in early stage startups in Latin America.
▸ Caravela Capital reached a first close for Caravela VC II, its second flagship fund with a USD50m target to invest in early stage startups in Latin America.
Caravela’s most recent investments include Franq Open Banking, Diferente, Vidia, Mottu and CashU. ▸ CVC | Brazilian bank Banco BRB launched a ~USD10m CVC arm to invest in early stage startups in Brazil with KPTL and BossaNova Investimentos as fund managers.
▸ LAVCA publishes an annual directory of its VC/Tech members, with profiles on 75+ firms active in Latin America.
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| Exits and M&As ▸ EXIT | G2 Capital, Camila Farani’s early stage fund, exited Parciom, a Brazilian accounting and invoice management platform for SMEs, through a sale to an undisclosed Brazilian urban mobility company.
▸ M&A | Celcoin, a Brazilian infrastructure developer for fintechs targeting the underbanked, acquired Finansystech, a Brazilian data-sharing platform for financial institutions with open finance programs, for ~USD16.3m.
Innova Capital led a ~USD17m round for Celcoin in 2021. ▸ M&A | Mendel, a Mexican corporate spend management platform, acquired Te Facturo, a Mexican invoice and expense verification platform for SMEs. ALLVP and Infinity Ventures just led a USD35m equity and debt round for Mendel. ▸ M&A | Pravaler, a Brazilian student financing platform, acquired Workalove, a Brazilian career guidance platform for students. Ribbit Capital invested ~USD25m in Pravaler in 2016. Pravaler participated in Google for Startups Brazil 2020 program. ▸ M&A | PicPay, a Brazilian payment and installment platform for retail and e-commerce, acquired BX Blue, a Brazilian payroll advance platform, to enter the consigned credit market. This is PicPay’s second known acquisition after acquiring Guiabolso, a Brazilian personal finance management platform, in 2021. ▸ M&A | JOKR, a NY- and Berlin-based last mile retail delivery platform, sold its Peruvian operations to Inretail, a subsidiary of Peruvian holding company Intercorp. JOKR just announced the shutdown of its operations in Mexico and Colombia. |
| Startups
▸ CRYPTO | Argentine crypto startup Ripio partnered with Visa to launch Ripio Card, a crypto-based credit card in Argentina.
▸ LAST MILE | Rappi launched RappiCargo, a B2B last mile delivery platform for SMEs, in Chile.
▸ CROSSBORDER | Atlas, a US-based recruiting platform for international talent, will launch operations in Brazil.
Atlas raised a USD200m Series B in September 2022. ▸ RIDESHARING | Cabify shut down its operations in Ecuador and is reportedly planning an IPO within the next 12-15 months.
▸ Argentine fintech Ualá partnered with Mexican boutique bank Banco ABC to launch its credit card program in Mexico.
Ualá announced the acquisition of Banco ABC in 2021; the transaction is still pending regulatory approval. ▸ CRYPTO | Mexican crypto startup Bitso published a suggested regulatory framework for crypto assets to complement Mexico’s Ley Fintech. The framework is focused on asset protection and anti-money laundering strategies. |
| People & Programs ▸ ALLVP will host a conversation with Anna Piñol of NFX, Miguel McAllister of Merqueo and Martin Schrimpff of Kocomo in Bogotá on 1 March. Registration is now open.
▸ Nestlé Mexico partnered with Endeavor to launch B2B Exponencial, an accelerator program for B2B fintech and last mile delivery startups. Interested founders are welcome to apply.
Mentors include Ricardo Weder (Jüsto), Marleen Garayzar (Stori), Helena Polyblank (Mendel), Javier Mata (Yalo), Vincent Speranza (Endeavor) and Hernan Fernandez (Angel Ventures). ▸ Latitud is hosting Latitud Explore, a six-week fellowship for operators planning on launching their next venture. Interested candidates are welcome to apply before 24 February.
▸ AMEXCAP will host Cumbre de Capital Privado 2023 in Mexico City on 28-29 March. Details here.
▸ ColCapital will host IV Congreso de Capital Privado y Capital Emprendedor de la Alianza del Pacífico in Bogotá on 7-8 March. Details here.
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SAVE THE DATE | LAVCA Week 2023 is taking place on 10-13 October 2023 at the Conrad New York Downtown in New York City.
The 2023 conference will convene LAVCA’s unparalleled network of private capital investors from across Latin America, the US, Asia and other global markets for a highly interactive experience, including networking and discussions on the latest trends in private equity, venture capital and other private capital strategies. 10 October: Member and LP Reception 11-12 October: Main Conference 13 October: Breakout Discussions Participation is open to LAVCA Members, non-Member private capital investors and qualified institutional investors. To learn more, visit lavcaweek.org. |
| Global Tech ▸ SIGN UP for GPCA’s Global Tech Brief. Edited by LAVCA Senior Advisor Julie Ruvolo, this bi-weekly newsletter covers tech activity in Asia, Latin America, Africa, CEE and the Middle East. Recent issues covered breastmilk innovation and China’s growing EV investment.
LAVCA is now part of GPCA, the Global Private Capital Association, and will continue to operate as a parallel membership organization with its own dedicated team and board.
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