Two New Unicorns; USD1.4b in New Rounds; Six Exits; USD10b+ in Fund Closes

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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.

January 13, 2022

Editor’s note: The LatAm Venture Bulletin is produced by Carlos Ramos de la Vega, LAVCA’s Director of Venture Capital. Former Editor Julie Ruvolo now publishes our global newsletter, the Global Tech Brief.

TLDR

📣 UNICORN ROUNDS | olist and Facily reach USD1b+ valuation.

📣 DEALS | Alice, OpenCo, ADDI, MetaMap, Nowports, Merama, Platzi, Arquivei and Ambar.

📣EXITS | Redpoint eventures, Canary, monashees and Indicator Capital.

📣 M&A | EBANX acquires Remessa Online for ~USD240m.
📣 NEWS | Mexican Central Bank announces plans for digital currency.

LAVCA Executive Director
LAVCA, an independent non-profit organization influencing investors that have committed over USD120b to companies, projects and startups in Latin America over the last decade, is seeking an Executive Director.

United by a long-term investment approach, over 200 LAVCA member firms are active across private equity, venture capital, private credit, infrastructure and other strategies. With the support of our Board of Directors, LAVCA’s mission is to connect and influence key market participants, promoting the sectors, strategies and deals that will drive investment returns and meet societal needs. A cornerstone of our work is generating proprietary data, intelligence and deal cases to drive transparency and showcase Latin America as a hub of innovation.

Today Latin America is experiencing unprecedented capital flows into new and innovative business models, driven by investments from Sand Hill Road and Warren Buffet to global institutional investors from Singapore to the Middle East. As LAVCA’s membership and influence grows, the Executive Director will lead the organization through a period of new expansion. This is a full-time position based at LAVCA’s headquarters in New York City. Enquire at opportunities@lavca.org.

Unicorn Rounds

🦄 Boston-based Wellington Management led a USD186m Series E for olist, a Brazilian marketplace aggregator, at a reported USD1.5b valuation, with participation from Valor Capital Group, SoftBank, Corton Capital, Globo Ventures, Goldman Sachs and angel Kevin Efrusy.

olist acquired Brazilian ERP platform Tiny and Brazilian e-commerce platform Vinda in November. Goldman Sachs Asset Management led a USD23m Series D+ in April; SoftBank Latin America led ~USD62m Series D in 2020.

🦄 Prosus Ventures and Goodwater Capital led a USD135m Series D+ round for Facily, a Brazilian social commerce marketplace, at a reported USD1b+ valuation.

This is Facily’s fifth known round in the past 12 months: DX Ventures and Delivery Hero just led a USD250m Series D; Glade Brook led a USD63m Series C in June; Luxor Capital led a USD41m Series B in April; Quona Capital and monashees led a USD12m Series A in December 2020.

🦄 Advent International and Softbank led a USD60m Series B+ for Merama, a Mexico- and Brazil-based e-commerce brand aggregator, at a reported USD1.2b valuation.

Advent and SoftBank also led the USD225m Series B in October at a reported ~USD850m valuation; Valor Capital Group, monashees and Balderton Capital led a USD60m round in May.

🦄 View LAVCA’s Unicorn Leaderboard
for the latest list of LatAm unicorns.

Deals
▸ 8VC led a USD181m Series B for Tul, a Colombian supply chain management platform connecting construction material manufacturers with SMEs, with participation from monashees, Lightrock, Coatue, Tiger Global, Fundamental, Marathon Labs and H20, and follow-on from Vine Capital, which led a USD4m round in November 2020.
▸ HEALTHTECH | SoftBank led a USD127m round for Brazilian healthcare provider Alice, with participation from G Squared, Globo Ventures, StepStone and Allen & Co, and follow-on from KASZEK and ThornTree Capital Partners.

Alice raised ~USD36m in February 2021 from KASZEK, Canary, MAYA Capital, ThornTree Capital Partners and Endeavor Catalyst. Alice just acquired Cuidas, a Brazilian primary care platform for employees.

▸ SoftBank led a ~USD120m round for OpenCo, a Brazilian unsecured personal credit platform, with follow-on from Raiz Investimentos, IFC and LTS.

Brazilian fintechs Geru and Rebel merged to form OpenCo last year. IFC and Goldman Sachs led a ~USD30m round in April 2021; monashees and XP invested USD4m in 2018.

▸ GIC led a USD80m round for ADDI, a Colombian point-of-sale lending platform, with participation from SoftBank.

DEBT | ADDI also secured USD120m in debt financing from Goldman Sachs and Architect Capital. Greycroft led a USD75m Series B+ in September 2021.

▸ MetaMap (formerly Mati), a Mexico-based identity and payments verification platform, raised a USD70m Series B from Alameda Research, Tribe Capital and Craft Ventures.

Tribe Capital led a USD13.5m Series A in October 2020; Spero Ventures invested in May 2020.

▸ LOGISTICS | Tiger Global led a USD60m Series B for Nowports, a Mexican automated freight platform, with participation from SoftBank Latin America and DST Global, and follow-on from monashees, Mouro Capital, Base10 Partners, Broadhaven Ventures and Foundation Capital.

Nowports just raised a USD8m Series A+ in December and a USD16m Series A in July 2021. CEO Alfonso de los Rios was just named to the newest class of Thiel Fellows.

▸ EDTECH | Prosus Ventures led a USD60m Series B for Colombian edtech Platzi, with follow-on from Foundation Capital, YC, 500 Global, FJ Labs, FundersClub, and Hans Tung (GGV) and Darian Shirazi (Gradient).

Foundation Capital invested USD6m in June 2019. Rest of World reviews Platzi’s prank on April Fool’s Day (December 28 in Latin America) in How a joke credit card went viral (and completely over people’s heads). “Everyone is launching a credit card [...] People want free money.” - Freddy Vega, CEO

▸ Riverwood Capital led a ~USD52m Series B for Arquivei, a Brazilian fiscal management platform, with participation from NXTP, Endeavor Catalyst, Constellation and IFC.

monashees led a ~USD2m seed round in 2016.

▸ DEBT | Tribal Credit, a San Francisco-based B2B payment platform for emerging markets, raised USD40m in debt financing from Partners for Growth and Stellar Development to expand its operation in Latin America.

QED Investors and Partners for Growth led a combined USD34.3m debt and Series A in April 2021.

▸ Ambar, a Brazilian real estate developer providing digitization services for construction projects, raised a ~USD36m Series C led by Echo Capital, the VC fund of Guilherme Weege (Malwee), and Oria Capital, with participation from TPG Capital and Argonautic Ventures.

DEBT | SP Ventures invested ~USD1.2m in debt financing in October 2020; Igah Ventures invested in 2019.

▸ ALLVP and Infinity Ventures led a USD35m equity and debt round for Mendel, a Mexican corporate spend management platform.

Angels participating in the round included Thejo Kote (Airbase), Matias Woloski (Auth0), Pedro Arnt (Mercado Libre), Federico Ranero (Kavak) and Keri Gohman (Bain Capital).

▸ CVC | GIC led a ~USD32m Series C for Shopper, a Brazilian subscription delivery platform for consumer products, with follow-on from Quartz, Minerva Foods, MFO Oikos and Floating Point.

Minerva Foods and Quartz led a ~USD24m Series B in June 2021; Shopper raised ~USD2m in July and ~USD900k in June 2020 from Canary and others.

▸ CVC | Agrofy, an Argentine marketplace for agricultural supplies, raised a USD30m Series C led by Yara Growth Ventures, the CVC arm of Norwegian chemical company Yara International.

Capria Ventures invested USD1m in October 2020; SP Ventures led a USD23m Series B in 2019 and a USD6m Series A in 2018.

▸ Valor Capital Group and JAM Fund led a ~USD24.3m Series A for Conta Simples, a Brazilian corporate card issuer for SMEs, with participation from Base10 Partners, and follow-on from YC, Big Bets and Quartz.

YC led a USD2.5m round in July 2021; Quartz led a ~USD2.6m round in 2020.

▸ HEALTHTECH | UK-based VC DN Capital led a ~USD22.2m Series A+ for Sami, a Brazilian healthcare plan management platform for SMEs, with follow-on from monashees, Valor Capital Group and Redpoint eventures.

Valor Capital Group and monashees led a ~USD17.2m Series A in October 2021; Redpoint eventures and Canary led a USD1.3m seed round in 2019.

▸ LOGISTICS | Tiger Global led a USD20.5m round for Nuvocargo, a Mexican freight transportation marketplace managing Mexico-US routes, at a reported USD180m valuation, with participation from The Flexport Fund, and follow-on from QED Investors and NFX.

QED Investors led a USD12m Series A in April 2021; ALLVP and NFX led a USD5.3m seed round in 2020.

▸ monashees and Valor Capital Group led a USD20m Series A for BHub, a Brazilian accounting and financial management platform for SMEs, with follow-on from QED Investors, Clocktower Technology Ventures and Picus Capital.

monashees and Valor Capital Group led a ~USD4.6m pre-seed round in October 2021.

▸ Atmos Capital led a ~USD20m Series A for Origem Motos Eléctricas, a Brazilian manufacturer and B2B provider of electric motorbikes, with participation from Bee Cap and consulting firm Visagio.

Barn Investimentos invested in August 2020.

▸ Stark Bank, a Brazilian cash management platform and corporate card issuer, raised a USD14.8m Series A led by Stripe alum Lachy Groom, with participation from Norte Capital and K5 Global, and follow-on from Iporanga Ventures.

Iporanga invested in 2020. Stark Bank’s clients include QuintoAndar, Loft, Buser, Colgate and PetLove.

▸ EDTECH | DILA Capital and ALIVE Ventures led a USD14m Series A for Slang, a Boston-based edtech focused on career development, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Roble Ventures and IDB Lab.

ALLVP and InQlab invested ~USD2.5m in 2019.

▸ GAMING | KASZEK led a USD13.2m round for Draftea, a Mexican fantasy sports league platform, with participation from Sequoia, Bullpen and angel Nigel Eccles (FanDuel).

This is Sequoia’s second known investment in a Mexican startup after their investment in Revel in 2018.

▸ AGTECH | Nagro, a Brazilian financing platform for agricultural producers, raised a ~USD12.8m pre-Series A from Kardinal, Vortx and angels Ariel Lambrecht (99) and Renato Mendes (MFO Oikos).

▸ CLEANTECH | Insole, a Brazilian financing platform for solar energy projects, raised ~USD12m from GP Investimentos, Scale Up Ventures and the Moura Group.
▸ CVC | Startups.com.br, a Brazilian tech publication led by former Valor Econômico journalist Gustavo Brigatto, raised ~USD200k from StartSe, a Brazilian open innovation platform, and Conta Simples, a Brazilian finance management platform.
▸ Massachusetts-based VC F-Prime Capital led a USD9.5m Series A for Parrot, a Mexican restaurant management platform.

Liquid2 Ventures and Foundation Capital led a USD2.1m round in December 2020.

▸ Lentesplus, an online retailer for contact lenses, raised a ~USD8m round from IGNIA Partners, DG Ventures, Empire Group and Palm Drive.

Lentesplus acquired Brazilian contact lens brand Newlentes to launch operations in Brazil. Palm Drive Capital led a USD5m Series A in December 2018.

▸ FOODTECH | The Live Green Co, a Chilean foodtech developing plant-based alternatives to replace animal-based products, raised a USD7m pre-Series A led by DRADS Capital, a Boston-based life science VC, with participation from Goshen Capital, FEN Ventures and Flambeau Capital Partners, and follow-on from Draco Latam, Alerce Venture Capital and NOA Capital.

Global food conglomerate Sigma Alimentos invested in May 2021.

▸ PROPTECH | Dalus Capital and Kayyak Ventures led a USD5.1m seed round for Aptuno, a Colombian proptech focused on eliminating the need for a co-signer in the residential rental market.

FJ Labs led a USD1.9m round in March.

▸ Volpe Capital led a ~USD5m Series A for Atlas Governance, a Brazilian software platform for corporate governance management.

Atlas raised ~USD1.1m in January 2021.

▸ IDC Ventures led a ~USD5m Series A for SuperSim, a Brazilian microcredit platform targeting the underbanked.

Navi Capital led a ~USD6m round in August 2020. ▸ AGTECH | Agrotoken, a Brazilian crypto platform for grain trading, raised a USD5m seed round from Barn Investimentos, Xperiment VC, Borderless Capital, Algorand Investment Capital, ByMA, Newtopia, Conexo VC and EDP Agro.

▸ Dynamo Ventures led a USD4.5m round for Solvento, a Mexican debt financing platform for trucking companies, with participation from Wollef and Zenda Capital.

DEBT | Solvento also secured a USD3m debt facility from Marco Financial.

▸ Melonn, a Colombian e-commerce fulfillment platform, raised a USD4.5m seed round from Wollef, Simma Capital, PearVC and NFX.

▸ HRTECH | SoftBank Latin America led a ~USD4m round for Worc, a Brazilian recruitment automation platform for restaurants, with participation from Honey Island Capital, Latitud, Positive Ventures, SaaSHolic, K50, Aimorés Investimentos and Mago Capital.

Worc raised an undisclosed round in January 2021.

▸ Genesis Ventures and WeBoost invested USD3.2m in CoTalker, a Chilean low-code backend automation platform for SMEs.
▸ Cross Commerce, a Brazilian e-commerce solutions platform enabling international retailers to operate in Brazilian e-commerce marketplaces, raised USD3m from Canary, ONEVC, MAYA Capital, GFC and Norte Ventures.
▸ Astella Investimentos and SoftBank led a ~USD3m seed round for BotCity, a Brazilian automation platform for software-enabled robotic systems, with participation from Alexia Ventures and Norte Ventures.

▸ Italian investment firm doValue led a ~USD3m Series A for QueroQuitar, a Brazilian debt negotiation platform, with participation from BossaNova Investimentos and 500 Global and follow-on from Wayra and BR Startups.

BR Startups and Wayra invested in 2018.

▸ EDTECH | KASZEK led a USD2.7m seed round for Crack the Code, a Peruvian coding platform for K-12 students.

▸ CRYPTO | Invermaster led a USD2.7m round for Impesa, a Costa Rica-based crypto payment platform.
▸ DEFI | DRW Cumberland and ParaFi Capital led a USD2.5m seed round for Credix, a Belgium-based decentralized finance credit marketplace for Latin American fintechs, with participation from Fuse Capital, Solana Ventures, Transfero Swiss BRZ Solana Ecosystem Fund, Petrock Capital, MGNR, Mercurial and Parrot Finance.
▸ Pacifiko, a Costa Rica- and Guatemala-based e-commerce platform, raised a USD2.5m seed round from undisclosed investors.

"We are building the Amazon-equivalent in countries that neither Amazon nor Mercado Libre have prioritized.”
- Jorge Schippers, CEO

▸ SoftBank led a USD2.3m round for Abstra, a Brazilian no-code app development environment for corporates.

Iporanga led a ~USD720k pre-seed round in September 2021.

▸ Valor Capital Group led a ~USD2m seed round for Comunica.In, a Brazilian remote-first internal communication platform for company employees, with participation from Honey Island Capital and Norte Capital.
▸ Sumer, a Colombian e-commerce platform enabling SMEs to launch digital stores, raised a USD2m pre-seed round from 8VC, Marathon Ventures, Broom Ventures, Susa Ventures and angels Simon Borrero, Feliper Villamarin and Sebastian Mejia (Rappi).
▸ EDTECH | DOMO Invest and Graphene Ventures invested ~USD1.4m in DIO, a Brazilian software development education platform.

▸ EDP Ventures led a ~USD1.3m round for Clarke Energia, a Brazilian startup managing electricity bills for SMEs, with participation from CSN Inova Ventures and Niu Ventures.

Canary led a ~USD640k round in May 2020.

▸ ABSeed led a ~USD1.2m round for CashU, a Brazilian B2B embedded finance platform for SMEs, with participation from Caravela Capital, ScaleXOpen and Bertha Capital.

▸ KPTL led a ~USD740k round in Dress & Go, a Brazilian designer clothing resale marketplace.

▸ Alaya Capital invested in Preauth, a Peruvian API enabling credit card pre-authorizations with credit limits as collateral.

▸ WOMEN-LED | Amplifica Capital invested in Mujer Financiera, an Argentine financial education platform for women.

▸ Conecta Lá, a Brazilian marketplace management platform for retailers, raised an undisclosed pre-Series A from RD Ventures, Silver Angels and Aimores Investimentos.

Exits / M&A

▸ EXIT | Delivery Hero partially exited Rappi through a USD150m secondary sale to an undisclosed investor. Delivery Hero continues to hold a ~ 8% stake in Rappi.

▸ EXIT | Redpoint eventures and ABSeed Ventures exited Movidesk, a Brazilian multi-channel help-desk platform, through a ~USD80m sale to Zenvia, a Brazilian customer management and communications platform.

Zenvia raised USD150m in an IPO on the NASDAQ at a USD400m valuation in 2021. Redpoint eventures and ABSeed invested USD2.2m in Movidesk in 2019.

▸ EXIT | monashees and Canary exited Mimic, a Brazilian dark kitchen restaurant brand developer, through a sale to Garden Brands.

The combined company will operate under the name Eatopia. Monashees, Valor Capital Group and Canary invested ~USD7.6m in 2019.

▸ EXIT | Capital Lab exited Atomic Agro, a Brazilian productivity management platform for small-scale agricultural producers, through a sale to Seedz, a Brazilian loyalty platform for rural producers.

Capital Lab invested ~USD600k in Atomic Agro in February 2020; Seeds raised an undisclosed seed round led by Volpe Capital and 10b in October 2021.

▸ EXIT | Riverwood Capital and Tiger Global exited Navent, an Argentine online classifieds platform with operations in Argentina, Brazil, Panama, Peru and Mexico, through a sale to Brazilian proptech QuintoAndar.

▸ EXIT | Indicator Capital exited Tevec, a Brazilian platform developing demand prediction algorithms for retail shopping, through a ~USD5m sale to Brazilian e-commerce platform Infracommerce.

Indicator Capital and Gavea Angels led a ~USD1m round for Tevec in 2019. Infracommerce raised ~USD174m in an IPO on the B3 in April 2021.

▸ M&A | EBANX acquired Remessa Online, a Brazilian fintech focused on international transfers and remittances for USD240m.

Remessa Online raised ~USD20m from KASZEK, Bewater Ventures and Kevin Efrusy (Accel) in 2020.

▸ M&A | Mercado Libre acquired Redelcom, a Chilean POS and payment system provider for SMEs.

▸ M&A | MasterCard acquired Arcus, a Mexican payment infrastructure provider for retailers and traditional banking institutions.

Citi Ventures, the CVC arm of Citigroup, invested in November 2020.

▸ M&A | Jitterbit, a Brazilian ERP and e-commerce automation platform, acquired Wevo, Brazilian e-commerce cloud integration platform.

Cventures Primus invested in Wevo in 2018.

Fund Closes

▸ Andreessen Horowitz reached USD9b in final closes across its USD1.5b Bio Fund, USD2.5b Venture Fund and USD5b Growth Fund.

Andreessen’s recent Latin America investments include: Foodology and Addi (2021), and Casai (2020).

▸ Ribbit Capital reached a USD1.15b final close for Ribbit Capital VII, its seventh flagship fund.

Ribbit’s 2021 Latin America investments include: Kavak, Ualá, QuintoAndar, Gorila, Justos and Cora.

▸ Lightrock reached a ~USD150m first close for its late-stage Latin America-focused fund with a USD300m target.

Fund Launches

▸ DEBT | Brasil Venture Debt launched Brasil Venture Debt II, its second venture debt fund with a USD250-300m target.

Managing Partner Gabriela Gonçalves was f eatured in LAVCA’s 2021 list of Top Women Investors in Latin American Tech.

▸ Headline, a VC fund led by former Redpoint eventures partner Romero Rodrigues, launched a fund with a USD100-150m target to invest in early-stage Latin American startups.

▸ CVC | Tiendanube/Nuvemshop, an Argentine e-commerce platform with operations in Brazil and Mexico, launched Nuvemshop Capital, a ~USD11m CVC fund targeting investments in early-stage e-commerce startups in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina.

▸ CVC | 2TM, the parent company of Brazilian crypto platform Mercado Bitcoin, launched a CVC fund to invest in crypto startups across Latin America

2TM Ventures has already invested ~USD32m into 10 startups, according to 2TM CEO Roberto Dagnoni.

▸ CVC | Locaweb, a Brazilian web services hosting platform, launched a ~USD20m CVC fund to invest in Brazilian early-stage e-commerce startups.

Startups

▸ DRONES | iFood is expanding its drone delivery platform to Northern Brazil.

iFood received approval from the National Civil Aviation Agency in Brazil to lead the first drone-assisted food delivery operation in Latin America in 2020.

▸ EDTECH | Brazilian edtech Alicerce Educação partnered with iFood to provide education programs to 150k delivery partners at a 40% discount.

Alicerce Educação received LAVCA’s inaugural Venture Capital ESG Award in 2021. Read the full deal case.

▸ FOODTECH | Chilean foodtech NotCo launched NotChicken Nuggets and NotChicken Burgers, its two newest product categories replacing chicken meat with plant-based alternatives in Argentina and Brazil.
▸ CRYPTO | Mexican crypto platform Bitso is the newest sponsor for Brazil’s São Paulo Futebol Clube.

News

▸ CRYPTO | The Mexican Central Bank plans to launch its own digital currency by 2024 as part of the federal government’s strategy to advance financial inclusion.
▸ CRYPTO | Rest of World reviews how Paraguay’s crypto miners are leveraging a regional private energy company to mine Bitcoin in How one of South America’s biggest dams became a Bitcoin battleground.
▸ Taxi.Rio, a ridesharing app developer by the Rio de Janeiro government, is Uber and Didi’s latest competitor.

According to Rest of World, "The shift back to traditional cabs was spurred in large part by pricing and longer wait times. Uber and 99 are grappling with driver shortages and high demand, which has translated to price surcharges, including a 30% increase over two months last fall." ▸ IDB Lab and iNNpulsa Colombia partnered to launch the #fAIrLAC initiative aimed at promoting the ethical use of technology by Colombian startups.

Investors

▸ Mercedes Bent of Lightspeed shares a web3 and metaverse ecosystem guide to get ahead in all things crypto.

Lightspeed’s recent Latin American investments include: Stori, Flink and Frubana.

▸ YC will now invest USD500k per admitted company into their accelerator program, up from USD120k for a 7% stake.

▸ Gabriela Cibils-Bernardes of CIBERSONS shares her view on the role of VC in early-stage startups and the development of Paraguay’s tech ecosystem.
▸ WSJ reviews angel Kevin Efrusy’s journey as angel investor in Latin America in Patience Pays Off for a Veteran Backer of Brazilian Startups.

Efrusy’s latest known investments include: Tiendanube, QuintoAndar, Flink, Hubla and Favo.

People & Programs

LAVCA WEEK | Save the date for LAVCA Week 2022 taking place in person on October 12-14 at the Conrad New York Downtown in New York City.

The 2022 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. ▸ Congratulations to the three Latin American founders included in the 2022 Class of the Thiel Fellowship: Alfonso de los Rios (Nowports), Tamara Chayo (Medu) and Ian Lee (Examedi).

▸ QED Investors is looking for a Principal to join its investment team based out of São Paulo. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.

▸ 500 Global is looking for an Associate to join its investment team remotely. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.

Global Tech

☞ Sign up for GPCA’sGlobal Tech Brief. Edited by LAVCA’s Julie Ruvolo, 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.

589 8th Ave, 18th Fl New York, NY 10018
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