Deals

▸ EXIT | Advent International exited Sophos Solutions, a Colombia-based digital banking platform, in a USD96m sale to GFT Technologies, a multinational developer of IT solutions for finance and insurance corporates. 

▸ Riverwood Capital invested ~USD33m in Amigo Tech, a Brazilian digital accounting and backend management platform for clinics and doctors. 

▸ Bessemer Venture Partners led a USD31m Series B for Incognia, a geolocation data platform for credit origination, with participation from FJ Labs and follow-on from Valor Capital Group, Prosus Ventures, Point72 Ventures and Unbox Capital. 

• Point72 led a USD15.5m Series A in 2022. 

▸ AGTECH | Banco do Brasil led a USD20m round for Traive, a Brazilian lending platform for agricultural producers.

• BASF Venture Capital, the CVC arm of German chemical conglomerate BASF, led a USD10m round in October 2022; SP Ventures, Astella and Minerva Foods invested previously. 

▸ BIOTECH | Phage Labs, a Chilean biotech developing alternative disease treatments to control cattle sickness, raised a USD11m round from NAZCA, Collaborative Fund, Water Lemon Ventures and Kevin Efrusy (Accel).

• KASZEK and Humboldt Fund led a USD30m round in June 2021.

▸ SECURITY | Bradesco led a ~USD7m round for Tenchi, a Brazilian cloud computing platform, with participation from L4 Venture of B3 and Accenture, with follow-on from ONEVC, MAYA Capital and Kinea Investimentos. 

• MAYA Capital led a ~USD3.3m seed round in November 2021.

▸ Vice Ventures led a USD6m round for PlayGreen, a Brazilian sports media and gaming startup. 

▸ CROSSBORDER | LEAP Global Partners and Rakuten Capital co-led a USD5m round for Leal, a Colombian credit card issuer and consumer rewards platform, with participation from Morro Ventures and Salkantay Ventures.

• IDC Ventures and Rakuten Capital led a USD10m Series A in March 2022; Leal raised a USD3m round in April 2019. 

▸ LOGISTICS | JOKR/Daki, a NY- and Berlin-based last mile retail delivery platform secured ~USD5m in media for equity from 4Equity Media Ventures.

• Conviavilité Ventures, the CVC arm of Pernod Ricard, led a USD50m Series D in September 2023 at a USD800m post-money valuation.
• JOKR closed its US operations to focus on Latin America in June 2022.
• JOKR raised a USD260m Series B led by GGV Capital at a USD1.2b valuation in December 2021. 

▸ BIOTECH | Fen Ventures and Atento Capital led a USD2.1m round for Bioeutectics, an Argentine startup manufacturing environmentally-friendly solvents, with participation from Gridx, Syensqo Ventures and Indie Bio. 

▸ CLEANTECH | InMotion Ventures, the CVC arm of Jaguar Land Rover, invested USD1.2m in Energy Source, a Brazilian lithium battery recycling startup. 

▸ Foundamental led a USD750k round for Nuqlea, an Argentine B2B construction marketplace.

• Nuqlea raised a USD3m seed round in May 2022. 

▸ PROPTECH | Konvex, a Colombian proptech platform, raised USD700k from 500 Global, Parallel18, Avalancha Ventures and angels Adrial Araujo (Hackmetrix), Ivan Peña (JP Morgan), Fernando Cabello (Devengo.com), Ricardo Ortiz (Siigo), Luis Barrios (Arkfund) and Mauricio Suarez (Stockpress).

▸ MINING | Certimine, a Brazilian ESG certification startup for mining companies, raised ~USD600k from undisclosed investors. 

▸ iThinkVC led a USD360k pre-seed round for Price Lab, a Peruvian retail pricing strategy startup.

▸ Comunitá, Sicredi Pioneira’s CVC arm, invested ~USD200k in ESG Now, a Brazilian sustainability indicator management platform.

• Ventiur Smart Capital invested ~USD58k in September 2023.

▸ INSURTECH | CV iDexo, TOVS’ VC arm, led an undisclosed round for PayHop, a Brazilian account receivables insurance platform, with follow-on from Serasa Experian, DOMO.VC, Citrino Ventures and undisclosed angels. 

▸ PERU | IMPAQTO Capital invested in Sinba, a Peruvian circular economy startup. 

▸ ANGEL | BR Angels led a ~USD900k round for Agidesk, a Brazilian help desk platform, with participation from Bossa Invest.

DEAL CASE HIGHLIGHT

L Catterton | NotCo

In August 2020, L Catterton invested in NotCo, a Chile-based foodtech company that leverages machine learning and Artificial Intelligence to develop tasty, healthy and environmentally friendly plant-based food products.

Since L Catteron's investment, the company has expanded to three new countries, expanded to 10k stores in North America through major retailers and had nearly 12x growth in net sales since 2019. NotCo has also launched environmental impact initiatives from within the organization, such as purchasing carbon offsets from third-party providers for emissions generated by employee commutes, and aims to eliminate plastic packaging by 2025.

Thank you to all our GP members who have submitted deal cases for the 10th Annual LAVCA Deal Awards. Your contributions highlight the critical role of sustainable practices in our industry.

Submissions are being reviewed by our panel of LP judges and winners will be announced during an online ceremony in Q2 of 2024. Winners will also be featured during LAVCA Week 2024 which will take place 8-11 October in New York City.

Startup News

▸ FOODTECH | Chilean foodtech NotCo won an antitrust court case against Chilean Milk Producers Association (APROVAL) after being sued over unfair competition in 2023. 

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

▸ BNPL | Amazon partnered with Kueski, a Mexican consumer lending platform, to offer bi-weekly installment payment plans for e-commerce purchases in Mexico. 

• This partnership marks the incursion of Amazon into BNPL in Mexico. 
• StepStone Group led a USD102m Series C for Kueski in December 2021; Cometa, Angel Ventures, Altos Ventures, Cathay Innovation, Richmond Global Ventures, Rise Capital and Tuesday Capital invested previously. 

▸ Datanomik, a Uruguay-based B2B open finance API startup, was approved by the Brazilian Central Bank to operate a payment initiator. 

• Andreessen Horowitz led a USD6m seed round in 2022 in its first known investment in a Uruguay-based startup. NAZCA, Canary and Latitud are also investors. 
• Datanomik was founded by dLocal founder Sergio Fogel.  

▸ CROSSBORDER | CloudWalk, a Brazilian POS and payments platform for entrepreneurs and SMEs, is expanding its geographic footprint in the US through its consumer credit and payments app Jim.com. 

• Expansion strategy will focus on NY, SF and Austin. 
• Coatue led a USD150m Series C for CloudWalk in 2021. Valor Capital Group and DST Global are also investors. 
• Bloomberg: Brazil Startup Is Taking Payments Tech to US with Sights on Mars

▸ CROSSBORDER | Kocomo, a Mexico-based vacation home co-ownership platform, partnered with Brazilian and Southeast Asian co-ownership platforms DOIZ and Kō to expand its global footprint. 

• Hi Ventures (formerly ALLVP) led a USD6m round for Kocomo in September 2021. 

▸ CROSSBORDER | edrone, a Polish customer service and marketing automation platform for e-commerce, is doubling down on Brazil after raising ~USD5m from European VCs. 

• CEO Michał Blak: “The newly acquired funds will allow us to expand our operations in Brazil, where we already managed to double revenues in 2023.”
• edrone launched operations in Brazil in 2017. 

▸ CLEANTECH | The Guardian highlights the promise of venture-backed cleantech startups Lemu (Chile) and Kilimo (Argentina) in advancing environmental change in Low-carbon milk to AI irrigation: tech startups powering Latin America’s green revolution.

• Arauco Ventures, the CVC arm of Chilean lumber company Arauco, led a USD8m Series A for Lemu in 2023. Kamay Ventures invested in Kilimo in the same year.

People & Programs

▸ ColCapital will host the seventh edition of Congreso de Capital Privado y Capital Emprendedor in Bogotá on 5-6 March. Registration is now open. 

▸ 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).

▸ 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.

▸ Finnovista will host FINNOSUMMIT Connect in Cancun, Mexico on 4-7. Registration is now open. 

• Stay tuned for additional details on Finnovista’s annual FINNOSUMMIT Mexico to be hosted in CDMX on 24-25 September. 

▸ 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.

▸ 30N Ventures launched its inaugural VC Fellowship Program for recent college graduates interested in getting involved in the venture ecosystem to work alongside the investment team. Interested candidates are welcome to apply. 

▸ 500 Global upped its equity checks from USD80k to USD300k for Latin American startups. 

• 500 Latam will also move past its batch program approach to reviewing companies on a rolling basis.

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.