Funds

▸ Bicycle Capital reached a USD440m first close for its first flagship fund with a USD500m target to invest in late-stage startups in Latin America. 

• Bicycle was founded by former SoftBank alums Marcelo Claure and Shu Nyatta. 
• Anchor LPs include Claure Group and Mubadala Investment Company. 

▸ L Catterton reached a ~USD233m first close for L Catterton Latin America IV LP, its four flagship fund to invest in private equity and late-stage technology businesses in Latin America.

▸ Pomona Impact reached a USD30.5m second close for Pomona Impact Fund II, its second flagship fund to invest in impact investments at the growth stage across Central America, Colombia, Mexico and Ecuador.

Deals

▸ PROPTECH | La Haus, a Colombian residential property brokerage service, raised a USD62m Series C from KASZEK, NFX, Next Play Capital, Acrew Capital and others.

• Acrew Capital led a USD50m round in November 2021; Greenspring Associates led a USD35m Series B in January 2021.

▸ NATURAL RESOURCES | Energy Impact Partners led a USD30m Series B for Ceibo, a Chilean copper extraction startup, with participation from CoTec Holdings, Audley, Orion Resources, Unearth, Pincus Green, and follow-on from Khosla Ventures and Aurus Ventures.

▸ Left Lane Capital and Cloud 9 Capital invested ~USD18m in Onfly, a Brazilian corporate travel and expense management platform for SMEs. 

• Cedro Capital invested ~USD400k in January 2021.

▸ FOODTECH | Green Coffee Company, a Colombian coffee producer, raised a USD25m Series C from 450 undisclosed HNW investors.

▸ HEALTHTECH | Pátria Investimentos’ Kamaroopin fund led a USD23m Series D for Dr. Consulta, a Brazilian medical network for low-income patients, with participation from Jica, the Japanese government's international cooperation agency, and IDB Invest.

• This is one of Jica’s first investments in Latin America.

▸ eB Capital led an undisclosed Series B for Hilab, a Brazilian remote blood testing equipment manufacturer, with participation from Rise Ventures, and follow-on from Brazilian hardware manufacturer Positivo Tecnología. 

▸ HEALTHTECH | Redpoint eventures and Mundi Ventures led a USD18m Series B for Sami, a Brazilian healthcare plan management platform for SMEs, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, Digital Horizon, Tau Ventures and Alumni Ventures, and follow-on from monashees and Valor Capital Group.

• UK-based DN Capital led a ~USD22.2m Series A+ in January 2022; Valor Capital Group and monashees led a ~USD17.2m Series A in October 2021

▸ DEBT | IDB Invest provided a USD15M structured loan to Habi, a Colombian residential real estate platform, to launch operations in Mexico. 

• This is the fourth known debt facility raised by Habi since 2022, including a USD75m credit line from Triple Point Capital, a USD6.3m credit line from Bancoldex and a USD100m credit line from Victory Park Capital.

▸ PayPal Ventures led a USD14m Series A for nocnoc, an Uruguay-based e-commerce platform that connects international brands to local marketplaces, with participation from IGNIA Partners, and follow-on from Quona Capital, Mouro Capital, Caravela and Broadhaven Ventures.

• Quona Capital and Mouro Capital led a USD7m seed round in April 2022.

▸ INSURTECH | Mundi Ventures and AV8 Ventures led a USD12m Series A funding for Olé Life, a US-based life insurance provider for young adults in Latin America, with participation from Morro VC.

▸ CLEANTECH | Base10 Partners led a USD11m Series A round for Waterplan, a US-based analytics platform for company water usage in the US, Europe and Latin America, with follow-on from Giant Ventures, Transition Global, YCombinator, MCJ Collective and Branson Family.

• Waterplan was founded by Argentines Jose Ignacio Galindo and Nicolas Wertheimer.

▸ Fanki, a Colombian finance management platform for sport leagues, raised a USD6m seed round from Broom Ventures, Tenacity Ventures and Maraton Capitals.

▸ Olive Tree Capital led a ~USD3.5m seed round for Compra Rápida, a Brazilian customer data automation service for online purchases, with participation from Liquid 2 and Soma Capital.

▸ Deetken Impact invested USD3m in Avanza Sólido Mx, a Mexican microcredit platform advancing gender inclusion in rural areas.

▸ LOGISTICS | Equus Capital invested ~USD2.5m in SYOS, a Brazilian AI-driven refrigeration monitoring system for food transportation in cold storage. 

• Indicator Capital invested ~USD2.4m in April 20233; KPTL invested ~USD2m in July 2020

▸ Chile Ventures,Morro Ventures and Inversiones Consolidadas led a USD2m round for Wift, a Chilean monthly rental car startup. 

▸ FOODTECH | Sudamerik invested USD1.5m in Ecoterra, a Chilean sustainable food production startup.

• Ecoterra raised USD1.3m through crowdfunding in September 2022.

▸ SECURITY |Daedalus, a Chilean fund founded by Cristóbal Piñera, led a USD1.3m bridge round for Hackmetrix, a Chilean cybersecurity startup, with participation from Matterscale VenturesBridge Latam and angel Dani Undurraga (Cornershop).

• Cometa led a USD1.5m seed round in November 2021.

▸ Wollef led a USD1m seed round for VIOO, a Mexican visual content marketplace, with participation from Kima Ventures, 500 Global, Colectivo Jaguara and undisclosed angel investors.

▸ INSURTECH | Impacta VC led a USD700k round for Airbag, a Mexican traffic safety startup.

• Impacta VC committed USD100k to the round.

▸ CROWDFUNDING | Riivi, a Chilean streaming platform for Latin American content, raised USD700k from crowdfunding platform Broota.

▸ The Government of Espírito Santo invested ~USD600k in five local startups through FUNSES1: Persora, Erathos, Presto, Kuke and Archa.

• TM3 Capital will manage FUNSES1; Ace Ventures will lead the accelerator program.

▸ WOMEN-LED | Zumma, a Mexican personal finance advising platform, raised USD500k from undisclosed investors.

• Zumma was co-founded by Daniela Lascurain, Marinella Piñate and Maria Fernanda de la Colina.

▸ LOGISTICS | Amplifica, a Chilean e-commerce order management software, raised USD300k from crowdfunding platform Broota.

▸ URUGUAY | TinySeed, a US-based accelerator program and angel Martín Alcalá Rubí invested in a USD210k round for Foliume, an Uruguay-based marketing tool for insurance products.

▸ Semente invested ~USD100k in Innoway, a Brazilian open innovation platform for corporates.

▸ Carabela invested in Peakr, a Colombian digital business purchasing platform.

▸ Agrega Partners invested in Exponencial Confirming, a Colombian accounts receivable financing platform. 

▸ LAVCA publishes an annual directory of its VC/Tech members, with profiles on 75+ firms active in Latin America.

Startups

▸ M&A | Méliuz, a Brazilian cashback platform, completed the sale of its payment arm Bankly to Banco Votorantim for ~USD42m. 

• Méliuz listed on the B3 in 2020, providing exits for monashees, Endeavor Catalyst, Lumia, Graph Ventures, FJ Labs and Social Capital.

▸ M&A | Sankhya, a Brazilian software management company, acquired a majority stake in Meetime, a Brazilian commercial contact management software.

▸ M&A | Yelcho Partners, a US-based investment firm, acquired Code7, a Brazilian marketing and sales relationship platform.

• Code 7 CEO Roberto Dariva also sold Navita, a Brazilian cloud data management platform for telecoms, in March

▸ M&A | Reag Investimentos acquired Bom pra Credito, a Brazilian consumer lending platform. 

• Innova Capital led a ~USD4.4m Series A in 2018; Globo Ventures invested in 2019.

▸ FOODTECH | Chilean foodtech NotCo was sued by the dairy union in Chile over unfair competition. 

• The court ruled in favor of the dairy union and requested NotCo to refrain from using cows or references to the milk industry as part of its marketing strategy.
• NotCo will appeal. 

▸ SPACE | Colombian edtech Platzi launched a satellite into orbit to offer space exploration courses to its students.

▸ Trybe, a Brazilian online coding school, announced a 35% reduction in workforce set to impact 128 employees. 

• Trybe raised a USD27m round led by Base Partners and Untitled in 2021.

▸ INSURTECH | Asistensi, a Spain-based insurance and telemedicine service provider to families of Latin American and Southeast Asian migrant workers, announced it is winding down operations. 

• Germany-based VC 468 Capital led a ~USD10.5m Series A in July 2021.
• Founder Armando Baquero shares a data-driven post-mortem and learnings.

People & Programs

▸ LAVCA Week 2023 | Stay tuned for registration updates next week. 
 

▸ BTG Pactual announced the six companies selected to participate in boostLab’s 2023 accelerator program: Data Rudder, ElloX, Fluid, LastLink, Streamshop and Turivius

▸ LP Brazilian development bank BNDES opened applications for its 2023 VC program. The bank seeks to commit ~USD290m across six GPs in Brazil. Interested investors are welcome to apply. 

▸ Finnovista will host FINNOSUMMIT 2023 on 26-27 September in Mexico City. Registration is now open. 

▸ Columbia University will host Brazil Climate Summit 2023 on 13 September, a two-day conference to discuss innovations to tackle climate change at the intersection of private capital, public policy and business. Notable participants will include Luciana Ribeiro of EB Capital and Arminio Fraga. Submit your interest to attend.

LAVCA Job Board

▸ Quona Capital is looking for an Investment Associate to join its Latin America investment team. Candidates based in Mexico City (or open to relocating) are welcome to apply. 

▸ DILA Capital is looking for a Senior Investment Analyst to join its team in CDMX. Interested candidates are welcome to apply. 

▸ ALLVP is looking for a Senior Investment Analyst to join the team. Interested candidates are welcome to apply. 

▸ Headline is looking for an intern to join its investment team in São Paulo. Interested candidates are welcome to apply. 

LAVCA Members: We welcome your job recs for future editions. Email cramos@lavca.org with information on relevant opportunities.

Global Tech

▸ SIGN UP for GPCA’s Global Tech Brief. This bi-weekly newsletter covers tech activity in Asia, Latin America, Africa, CEE and the Middle East.

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.