LAVCA Data Insight: Slow and Steady

A record number of early-stage startups are likely to begin fundraising in 2024 while investors focus on strengthening their current portfolio.  

More than 1,700 companies have raised seed and early-stage VC funding in Latin America since 2019, according to LAVCA data. With longer times to close financing, founders may be faced with stark choices depending on the current health of their business – raise new sources of dilutive capital in a potential down round, turn to venture debt, pursue a sale process, or wind down operations.

LAVCA Members can log in to download the accompanying LAVCA Data Pack.

INVESTOR SPOTLIGHT

Is AI a Thing in Latin America? In Conversation with Hi Ventures

LAVCA sat down with Federico Antoni and Jimena Pardo of Hi Ventures to discuss their evolving thesis and vision for institutional investors considering increasing their exposure to AI in Latin America.    

Hi Ventures: What is striking about the acceleration of AI is that it has hit all the world simultaneously. Unlike the Internet – where Latin America lagged behind in broadband infrastructure or smartphone penetration that took years longer to catch up – the same LLMs are available to founders and consumers in San Francisco, CDMX, Shanghai, São Paulo, Tel Aviv and Buenos Aires.

Deals

▸ DEBT | Baubap, a Mexican consumer lending platform, secured USD120m in debt financing from SixPoint Capital Management

• Baubap secured USD25m in debt financing from Park Cities Asset Management in November 2022; Grupo Alfin led a USD3m round in March 2021.  

▸ DST Global led a USD25m Series A for Yuno, a Colombian checkout platform for last-mile delivery startups, with participation from Tiger Global and follow-on from KASZEK, monashees and Andreessen Horowitz.

• Andreessen Horowitz, KASZEK and monashees led a USD10m seed round in February 2022.

▸ Upload Ventures led a USD20m round for Topsort, a US-based advertising solutions platform, with follow-on from Quiet Capital and Pear Ventures. 

• Topsort was founded by Chilean Francisco Larraín.

▸ Marco Financial, a Miami-based lending platform for Latin American SMEs conducting international trade, raised a USD12m round from IDB Lab, Barn Investimentos, IDC Ventures and Florida Funders, with follow-on from Arcadia Funds. 

• Arcadia Funds led a USD8m round and MidCap Financial Investment and Castlelake also provided USD200m in a credit facility in February 2023; Marco Financial raised a USD7m seed round in July 2021 alongside a USD75m credit facility. 

▸ Bewater led a ~USD12m round for SkyOne, a Brazilian cloud computing platform.

• Spectra Investments and Invest Tech invested in March 2023.

▸ PROPTECH | Redpoint eventures and TM3 Capital led a USD10m round for Housi, a Brazilian property management startup, with participation from Açolab Ventures.

▸ Oikocredit led a USD10m equity and debt seed round for YoFio, a Mexican credit provider for MSMEs, with participation from 500 Global, Innogen Capital, G2 Fintech Fund, Cauris Finance and undisclosed angels. 

▸ DEBT | Open Co, a Brazilian unsecured personal credit platform, raised ~USD10m in debt through a FIDC (Fundo de Investimentos em Direitos Creditorios) from Empírica Investimentos.

• IFC and Goldman Sachs led a ~USD30m round in March 2021; monashees and XP invested USD4m in 2018.

▸ IoT | Cometa led a USD8m round for Pulsar, a US-based manufacturing analytics platform for factories in the US and Mexico, with participation from Seaya Cathay Latam, Arca Ventures, and follow-on from Kayyak Ventures. 

• Jaguar Ventures, GFC, Picus Capital and Kayyak Ventures led a USD3.6m seed round in August 2021.

▸ Smartbeemo, a Colombian e-commerce know-how education platform, raised a USD6m equity and debt round with participation from Impact Ventures PSM, RGMA Holdings de Multifamily EPC, Angelhub, and follow-on from Redwood Ventures, New Ventures and Simma Capital.

▸ CLEANTECH | Vox Capital and Copel Ventures led aUSD5.3m Series A for Nextron Energia, a Brazilian renewable energy credits marketplace.

• Valor Capital Group led a USD2.2m seed round for Nextron Energia in May 2022.

▸ Colmeia, a Brazilian digital service automation startup, raised ~USD5m from Crescera Capital.

▸ Fintual, a Chilean robo-advisor and asset management platform, raised a USD4.2m follow-on round from Sequoia, KASZEK and Hi Ventures. 

• Sequoia led a USD39m Series B in November 2021; KASZEK invested USD15m in July 2021; ALLVP, YC and Oskar Hjertsonsson (Cornershop) invested previously. 

▸ 4Equity invested ~USD4m in FinanZero, a Brazilian consumer marketplace.

• FinanZero raised a USD4.1m round in July 2022; Vostok Emerging Finance led a USD7m round in April 2021; Finanzero raised a ~USD8.4m round in 2019 and a ~USD2.4m round in 2018. 

▸ INSURTECH | Sostengo, an El Salvador-based insurtech, raised a USD3.8m seed round from PeopleFund. 

▸ WEB3 | Kravata, a Colombian Web3 integration platform, raised USD3.6m from Volt Capital, Framework Ventures, Circle Ventures, Magma Partners, SIMMA Capital and others.

▸ AGTECH | iDEXO, the CVC arm of TOTVS, led a ~USD3.4m Series A+ for Cromai, a Brazilian computer vision platform for monitoring crop nutrition levels, with participation from Baraúna VC and Citrino Ventures.

• Cromai raised ~USD3m in December 2022; Plant nutrition solutions company Grupo Stoller invested ~USD1m in June 2021.

▸ Picus Capital and 468 Capital led a USD3.3m seed round for Niko, a Mexico City-based solar installation startup.

▸ WOMEN-LED | Hi Ventures led a USD2.75m seed round for Atlas, a San Francisco-based remote work benefits platform.

• Atlas was co-founded by Argentines Karen Serfaty and Gianina Rossi.
• READLAVCA’s interview with Hi Ventures’ Co-Managing Partners Jimena Pardo and Federico Antoni. 

▸ DGF Investimentos led a ~USD2.4m round for Visio.ai, a Brazilian franchise management platform, with participation from Alexia Ventures and Scale-Up Ventures. 

▸ Canary led a USD2.1m round for Darwin AI, a Brazil-based conversational AI assistant, with participation from Dalus Capital, H20 Capital, FJ Labs and Latitud.

▸ HRTECH | Indicator Capital led a ~USD2m round for Neowrk, a Brazilian workspace management startup.

▸ CLEANTECH | EDP Ventures invested USD2m in Splight, a Chilean renewable energy management startup.

▸ AGTECH | BemAgro, a Brazilian crop management startup, raised a USD2m pre-Series A from CNH Industrial, Rural Ventures, MMAgro and Agroven.

▸ AGTECH | A de Agro, a Brazilian data analytics platform for agribusiness, raised a ~USD2m round from undisclosed investors. 

• DXA Invest led a ~USD5.5m round in August 2023; BTG Pactual, SP Ventures and SVG Partners invested in July 2021. 

▸ HEALTHTECH |  Taram Capital led a USD1.7m seed extension for Keiron, a Mexican patient management platform for healthcare centers, with participation from Consorcio, Nakama Ventures and follow-on from LarrainVial Asset Management.

• Keiron raised a USD1.5m round from LarrainVial Asset Management and Hero Capital in August 2022.

▸ SECURITY | Bossa Invest and Invisto.com led a ~USD1.4m round for Bluecyber, a Brazilian cybersecurity insurance startup.

▸ Redpoint eventures led a USD1.2m round for StopClub, a Brazilian security and financial solutions platform for gig workers, with participation from Raio Capital. 

▸ EDTECH | Iron Capital led a ~USD800k round for Analytica Ensino, a Brazilian education technology startup.

▸ HRTECH | Potencia Ventures led a ~USD380k pre-seed round for Trampay, a Brazilian payroll management platform for ride-sharing and last-mile delivery workers, with follow-on from Cedro Capital.

• Cedro Capital invested ~USD1.1m in May 2023; Trampay raised an additional USD100k from undisclosed angel investors.

▸ Finplace, a Brazilian credit financing platform for SMEs, raised  ~USD250k in crowdfunding with follow-on from DSK Capital.  

•  DSK Capital led a ~USD2m pre-Series A in October 2022. 

▸ DOMO led a ~USD200k round for Copybase, a Brazilian content creation startup for marketing teams.

▸ DOMO led a ~USD160k round for Pilea Labs, a Brazilian influencer mapping startup, with participation from WOW Aceleradora, and angels Marcia Netto (Sallve) and Andre Popoutchi (Dr. Jones).

▸ DEBT | Partners for Growth invested in SimpliRoute, a Chilean logistics intelligence platform.

• TheVentureCity led a USD3m Series A in April 2020.

▸ LEGALTECH | BDEV Ventures invested in Tally, a Mexican legal incorporation platform for startups. 

▸ ANGEL | WIM Angels invested in Beorange, a Brazilian administrative intelligence startup. 

▸ ANGEL | Anjos do Brasil invested in Grana Capital, a Brazilian tax management platform for stock exchange-driven capital gains.

Funds

▸ IMPACT | IDB Invest committed USD5m to Good Karma Impact Fund, Good Karma Partners’ second flagship fund with a ~USD88m target to invest in early- and growth- stage healthtech, edtech and climate startups. 

▸ Amarena, the VC arm of the Angelini FO, announced an additional USD15m capital commitment from Patricia Angelini. 

• Amarena’s portfolio includes Betterfly, Xepelin, 1DOC3 and Levita Magnetics. 

▸ IMPACT | Vox Capital launched its fourth flagship fund with a ~USD40m target to invest in early-stage companies with a socioeconomic or environmental impact. 

• Vox also reached a ~USD38m final close for Tech for Good Growth I in 2021. 

▸ IMPACT | Atta Impact launched Mesoamerican Catalytic Fund I (MCFI), its inaugural fund to make equity and quasi-equity investments in impact-driven companies in Central America and Southern Mexico. 

▸ WOMEN-LED | EMA Ventures launched its inaugural fund to invest in women-led startups in Spanish-speaking Latin America. 

• EMA Ventures was co-founded by Gabriela Vera (QAPU Ventures) and Natalia Amaya (InstaFit).

 News and M&A

▸ CLOUD | AWS announced a USD5b infrastructure investment to open a cluster of data centers in Mexico. 

• Amazon has invested ~USD3b in Mexico since it launched operations in the country in 2015, per Reuters. 
• AWS is a LAVCA Tech Growth Member.  

▸ M&A | Brazilian Banco Master acquired a majority stake in digital bank Will Bank. 

• Atmos Capital and XP Private Equity acquired a ~USD50m stake in July 2021. 

▸ M&A | Ziff, a Mexican financial solutions provider, acquired Arrenda, a Mexican lending platform providing rent advances for residential landlords. 

• UK-based investor Fasanara Capital led a USD26.5m equity and debt round in Arrenda in August 2022.  

▸ M&A | Cuida Mi Mascota, a Mexican petcare products platform, acquired Tu Mejor Amigo, a Mexican vet and ancillary service platform for dogs. 

• Tu Mejor Amigo was part of Platanus Ventures’ 23-2 batch announced in October 2023. 

▸ Favo, a Peruvian grocery fulfillment platform leveraging local sales reps to market products for last-mile distribution, is shutting down due to financial and scaling headwinds. 

• The decision follows previous challenges involving its expansion into Brazil in 2022.
• Favo raised a USD26.5m Series A led by Tiger Global in October 2021. 

▸ CLIMATE | WEF highlights the role of Argentines Kilimo and Nilus and Chilean Algramo in developing solutions to improve the state of the climate crisis and food insecurity in Latin America in its article, From forest schools to greywater recycling – these start-ups are powering a green revolution across Latin America.

• Kamay Ventures invested in Kilimo in 2023; MFO RESPADA led a USD6m Series A for Nilus in 2022; Dalus Capital invested a USD7.3m Series A for Algramo in 2021. 

People & Programs

▸ GPCA will hostGPC Conference in partnership with IFC in New York City on 25-27 March. Registration is now open. 

• Select speaking faculty this year includes: Eric Acher (monashees), Yemi Lalude (TPG), Scott Voss (HarbourVest Partners), Noor Sweid (Global Ventures), Jessica Huang Pouleur (Openspace Ventures), Mehmet Atici (Earlybird Digital East), Sanjay Nath (Blume Ventures) and Kuo-Yi Lim (Monk’s Hill Ventures).

▸ DEI | IDB Lab partnered with Diversity VC to launch Diversity in VC, a new initiative to review and implement DEI strategies for the venture community in Latin America. 

• The five funds selected to participate in the pilot program include DILA Capital, CITES, GridX, The Yield LatAm and Dadneo. 

▸ Congrats to the five new startups selected to participate in Endeavor Argentina’s Scale-Up Program: Koibanx, Tapi, Janis, Workia and The Flock.

▸ The 4th edition of the VC LatAm Summit will be hosted in Miami on 16-17 April. Registration is now open. 

• Organizing local associations include: ARCAP, ABVCA, BOCAP, CAPCA, ACVC, COLCAPITAL, ECUACAP, AMEXCAP, PARCAPY, PECAP, VENECAP and URUCAP.

▸ Antler will host the fourth edition of its founder residency program in Brazil starting on 25 March. 

• The 10-week program runs out of São Paulo and is designed for individuals in the earliest stages of the startup founder journey: those without a clear idea of what business they want to build; those looking for a co-founder; those working on a specific thesis but without any validation.
• Interested founders are welcome to apply before 15 March.

Global Tech

▸ Sign up for GPCA’s Global Tech Brief, a monthly newsletter that 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.