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. |
Open Call for Submissions: Top and Emerging Women Investors in Latin American Tech We are still accepting nominations for LAVCA's annual list of Top Women Investors and Emerging Women Investors in Latin American Tech. Access the form to nominate senior-, mid-, and junior-level female investment professionals deploying capital from a VC fund, and women angel investors investing in 3+ LatAm tech startups a year. Nominations close Friday, 24 November. |
LAVCA Data Insight We took a deep dive into the evolution of capital investment in the ten sectors most sought after by investors since 2019. |
Key Insights Fintech is consistently the vertical that attracts most investment in Latin America. Fintech startups have attracted 40% of all VC dollars in the region over the last five years, followed by e-commerce (17%) and proptech (8%) startups. Cleantech appeared in the top 10 ranking for the first time in 2022, driven by investment into tech innovations for renewable energy, carbon removal, and circular economy. Investors are showing growing interest in last-mile delivery, freight forwarding technologies, and international logistics services. Logistics tech ranks third in total capital invested in Q1-Q3. LAVCA also just published the Q3 2023 Industry Data & Analysis with additional insights including: aggregate statistics on private capital investment, fundraising and exits in Latin America, as well as sector breakout analysis by stage, country, ticket size and vertical. LAVCA Members can log in to download the Q3 2023 Industry Data & Analysis Excel file. Non-members can purchase to access the data. LAVCA members may also request custom data cuts by contacting LAVCA’s Director of Research Emanuel Hernandez at ehernandez@lavca.org. |
LAVCA Announces New Board Members |
Carlos (CK) Kokron Vice President and Managing Director, Qualcomm Ventures |
Laura Mello de Andrea Constantini Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Astella Investimentos |
Dieter Hauser CEO, Farellones Capital |
“Carlos, Laura and Dieter are at the forefront of the private capital industry in Latin America, and I am delighted to welcome them to the LAVCA board. Qualcomm has been an active corporate investor in the region for over a decade, a similar period that Astella has been seeding startups in Brazil. Dieter’s track record as a family office investor represents a best-in-class commitment to the region,” said Nicolas Szekasy, LAVCA board chair and Managing Partner of KASZEK. |
o Deals ▸ Riverwood Capital led a USD32.5m Series B for Logcomex, a Brazilian international trade management platform, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, and follow-on from Alexia Ventures, Igah Ventures, Spectra Investments and Caravela Capital. Alexia Ventures and Igah Ventures led a USD10.3m Series A in August 2021; Caravela and Invest Tech led a ~USD600k round in 2020. ▸ KASZEK led a USD15m round for GoPass, a Colombian integrated payments platform for toll booths, gas stations and towing services. ▸ iugu, a Brazilian finance automation and payment platform for SMEs, raised ~USD14.5m through a FIDC (Fundo de Investimentos em Direitos Creditorios) led by Bradesco BBI. Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking led a ~USD25m Series A in September 2020; Indicator Capital previously invested BRL5m in 2012 and 2014. iugu was granted the BACEN license in August by the Brazilian Central Bank, enabling the platform to operate as a payment institution. ▸ IoT | Kayyak Ventures led a USD10m Series B for Fracttal, a Chilean IoT asset management platform, with participation from Amador Holdings, and follow-on from GoHub Ventures. Seaya Ventures led a ~USD6m round in June 2021; Scale Capital invested USD2m in 2018. ▸ HEALTHTECH | Extendeal, an Argentine price comparison platform for pharmaceuticals, raised USD7.5m from undisclosed investors. ▸ Galaxy Interactive and DragonFly led a ~USD6m Series A for Galactic Holdings, a Mexico-based digital wallet and crypto asset exchange, with participation from SHK. BAI Capital led a USD10m pre-Series A in May. ▸ DEBT | Creze, a Mexican lending platform for SMEs, secured a USD5.7m credit line from BBVA Spark. Creze was acquired by Polygon Fintech, a financial group targeting unbanked consumers, in 2019, providing an exit to backers DILA Capital and NAZCA. ▸ ALIVE Ventures led a USD4.6m round for Teclogi, a Colmbian marketplace connecting cargo with independent truck drivers. DEBT | Teclogi secured USD1.5m in venture debt from Pomona Impact in August 2022. ▸ Kayyak Ventures led a USD3.6m round for Enerlink, a Chilean energy management startup, with participation from E62 Ventures, Inversiones GP and the Marinetti family. ▸ DEBT | Legria, a vacation rental co-ownership platform, raised a USD3.4m debt round from Ameris Capital. Legria raised USD6m in September 2022. ▸ PE investor DSK Capital led a ~USD2.8m seed roundfor Food to Save, a Brazilian sustainable food waste management startup, with participation from Spectra Investments and HiPartners. ▸ NAZCA led a USD2m round for Loads, a Chilean logistics platform for food importers, with participation from Canary, Alaya Capital and undisclosed angels. ▸ AGTECH | Visa invested USD2m in Agrotoken, a Brazilian crypto platform for grain trading. Agrotoken launched operations in Brazil in July 2022 after raising a USD5m seed round in January that same year. Agrotoken raised a USD5m seed round in January 2022. ▸ LOGISTICS | ITA Frotas led a~USD1.5m roundfor Able-On, a Brazilian end-to-end fleet management solutions startup. ▸ Axify, a Mexican installment-based prepayment platform, raised USD1.3m from Alpha Impact 8 and Avalancha Ventures. ▸ Mandi Ventures invested ~USD1m in GrowinCo, a Brazilian B2B marketplace connecting CPG brands with underutilized factory facilities. GrowinCo raised ~USD750k in July from angel syndicates. ▸ Vurdere, a Brazilian customer review platform for digital brands, raised a ~USD700k round from Core Angels Atlantic, Collider, 87Labs, EGI-Group and undisclosed angels. ▸ HRTECH | IDB Lab invested ~USD400k in Jobecam, a Brazilian video-based recruiting platform. Jobecam raised ~USD800k in March from angel investors. ▸ WOMEN-LED | Emunah invested in a ~USD200k pre-seed round for Nua, a Brazilian sustainable menstrual health product startup. Nua was co-founded by Isabelle Parik and Clara Ibri. ▸ HEALTHTECH | CannaCare, a Brazilian platform for cannabis-based treatments, raised ~USD200k from friends and family. ▸ CVC | Krealo, the CVC arm of Credicorp, invested in uils, an Argentinian lending platform for gig workers. uils was also selected to participate in Krealo’s accelerator program alongside nine other Latin American startups. ▸ CVC | Krealo, the CVC arm of Credicorp, invested in Plurall, a Colombian financing platform for microentrepreneurs. DEBT | Plurall raised a USD1.5m round from Ewa Capital, Comfama and CAF and secured a USD10m debt facility in September 2022. |
Funds ▸ Riverwood Capital reached a USD1.8b final close for Riverwood Capital Partners IV, its fourth growth fund to invest in scale-up tech-enabled companies across the US and Latin America. Riverwood’s latest investments in Latin America includeInvGate, Cortex, Geopagos, Dock,Guppy. ▸ BIOTECH | Eurofarma, a Brazilian pharmaceutical conglomerate, launched Eurofarma Ventures, a CVC arm with USD100m in committed capital to invest in biotech startups focused on human-centered medical innovation in Brazil. Eurofarma Ventures’ recent investments include Abcuro, an immunotherapy developer for treatment of autoimmune diseases, and Gen-t Science, a gene bank startup. ▸ CVC | InDrive, a US-based ride-hailing platform with operations in Latin America and Asia, launched New Ventures, a CVC arm with USD100m in committed capital to invest in last-mile delivery startups in Latin Latin America, the Middle East and Africa and Southeast Asia. ▸ ENERGY | Deep Blue Ventures launched its inaugural fund with a ~USD60m target to invest in Brazilian B2B startups developing solutions focused on energy transition and energy rationalization. Deep Blue Ventures was launched by Moises Herszenhorn. ▸ Medina Ventures launched an inaugural venture fund to invest in early-stage startups in the US and Latin America. Medina Ventures is led by Manuel Medina of Medina Capital and Melissa Medina of eMerge Americas. ▸ BIOTECH | Chilean VC The Ganesha LablaunchedGanesha Lab Fund I, its inaugural fund with a USD10m target to invest in pre-seed and seed stage biotech startups in Latin America. |
Startup News and M&A ▸ M&A | Hong Kong-based fintech Airwallex acquired MexPago, a Mexico-based crossborder payments platform for SMEs. Mexico’s CNBV approved MexPago to operate as an electronic payment institution in October 2021 alongside other nine Mexican startups. Airwallex raised a USD100m Series E+ in 2022 from Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, Tencent and Lone Pine Capital, among others. ▸ M&A | QI Tech, a Brazilian API-based credit issuance platform, acquired Brazilian stockbroker Singulare. General Atlantic just led a USD200m Series B for QI Tech. This is QI Tech’s second known acquisition after acquiring Builders Bank, a Brazilian banking application developer, in June. ▸ Kuadra, a Colombian back office management platform for SMEs, launched operations in Ecuador. Kuadra was just selected to participate in Seedstars and Krealo’s accelerator program; Techstars invested USD120k in May. ▸ CROSSBORDER | LiveKid, a Polish communication management platform for parents with children in preschool, nurseries and kindergarten schools, announced the opening of an office in Mexico City. LiveKid just raised a ~USD3.4m round and is actively operating in Poland and Spain. |
News ▸ Mercado Pago, Mercado Libre’s fintech arm, secured a total of USD466m in credit financing from Citibank and Citibanamex. Citibank will provide USD237m and Citibanamex will commit the balance to expand Mercado Pago’s lending capabilities in Mexico and Brazil. ▸ CLEANTECH | Amazon announced the construction of its first eolic park in Brazil. The park is part of Amazon’s Climate Pledge commitment to become carbon emission neutral by 2040. ▸ Bamboo Capital Markets, a Brazilian capital markets platform connecting companies seeking debt financing with institutional investors, will be able to coordinate public offerings, after receiving authorization from Brazil’s CMV. Bamboo is led by Arthur O’Keefe and Felipe Moraes. ▸ Reuters: E-commerce, nearshoring key drivers for Mexican startups as funding trickles back. ▸ CROSSBODER Indian gaming startups are eyeing Brazil as a logical next step in their global expansion, per YourStory. “As regulations tighten and customer acquisition costs shoot up in India, Indian gaming companies are looking to launch their games in Brazil owing to its striking similarities to India and the allure of greater revenue per user.” |
People & Programs ▸ Alejandro Fuiza, Of Counsel to LAVCA’s advisory board and former Brown Rudnick Latin America practice chair, joined PAG LAW as partner. ▸ LAVCA's Director or Research Emanuel Hernandezwill speak on the panel 'Una mirada a la evolución del VC enLatam y lo que viene' during Peru Venture Capital Conference 2023, taking place on 29-30 November in Lima. ▸ Capria Ventures is looking for a Senior Investment Analyst to join its team based in Mexico City or São Paulo. Interested candidates are welcome to apply. Capria is also looking for an Investment Fellow to join its team in Brazil. Candidates can apply here. ▸ NXTP Ventures is looking for an Associate or Senior Associate to join its team out of its São Paulo office. Interested candidates are welcome to apply. ▸ Alaya Capital appointed Principal Bruno Pérez as its first investor based out of Mexico. ▸ URUGUAY |Uruguay Innovation Hub is looking to finance an international accelerator looking to expand its presence, operating and investing capabilities to Uruguay. Interested organizations are welcome to apply before November 20. |
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