LAVCA DATA

LAVCA Q1 2025 VC Insights

Amidst a whirlwind of recent global events, Latin American startups raised USD881m in Q1 2025, in line with the ~USD1b quarterly investment figure recorded since Q3 2022.

Largest disclosed rounds in Q1 included Merama (USD215), Kavak (USD127m) Plata (USD160m), ADDI (USD70m), Ualá (USD66m), Solinftec (~USD51m), Buk (USD50m) and Music.AI (USD40m).

LAVCA Members: Stay tuned for the full report coming mid-May. 

Deals

▸ Merama, a Mexico- and Brazil-based e-commerce brand aggregator, raised a USD215m equity and debt round from Advent International, Softbank, Valor Capital Group, monashees, Balderton Capital and Marcel Telles (3G Capital).

• Advent International and SoftBank led a USD60m Series B+ in December 2021 and a USD225 Series B in October 2021; Valor Capital Group, monashees and Balderton Capital led a USD60m round in May 2021. 

 ▸ ADDI, a Colombian point-of-sale lending platform, secured USD170m in debt financing from Goldman Sachs and Fasanara Capital.

• ADDI raised a USD36m round in March 2024; GIC led a USD80m round for ADDI in December 2021; Greycroft led a USD75m Series B+ in September 2021. 
• DEBT | ADDI also secured USD50m in debt financing from Goldman Sachs; Goldman Sachs and Architect Capital provided USD120m in debt financing in December 2021.

▸ SoftBank and General Atlantic led a USD127m round for Kavak, a Mexico-based online used car dealer.

• DEBT |  Kavak also secured USD400m in debt financing from Goldman Sachs and HSBC.
• General Catalyst led a USD700m Series E in September 2021; Kavak raised a USD485m Series D in April 2021.

▸ QED Investors led a USD75m Series B for Félix Pago, a Mexico-based WhatsApp cross-border money transfer service, with participation from monashees, General Catalyst and follow-on from Castle Island Ventures, Switch Ventures and HTwenty.

• Castle Island Ventures led USD15.5m Series A in May 2024.

▸ BLOCKCHAIN | Credix, a Belgium-based decentralized finance credit marketplace for Latin American fintechs, raised ~USD53m in debt through a FIDC (Fundo de Investimentos em Direitos Creditorios).

• Credix, raised a ~USD12m Series A in September 2022; Credix raised a USD2.5m seed round led by DRW Cumberland and ParaFi Capital in January 2021.

▸ WOMEN-LED | Oak HC/FT led a USD48m Series A for Toku, a Chilean recurring payments automation platform for SMEs, with follow-on from Gradient Ventures, Clocktower, YC, F-Prime Capital and Honey Island Capital.

• Gradient Ventures led a USD9.3m Series A in April 2024; F-Prime led a USD7m round in March 2023; Clocktower and Funders Club led a USD2m seed round in October 2021.
• Toku was co-founded by Cristina Etcheberry.

▸ Tidemark led a ~USD40m Series B for Onfly, a Brazilian corporate travel management software, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst and follow-on from Left Lane Capital and Cloud9 Capital.

• Left Lane Capital and Cloud9 Capital led ~USD15.5m Series A in June 2023; Cedro Capital invested ~USD400k in January 2021.

▸ Base10 led a USD35m Series B for Mendel, a Mexican corporate spend management platform, with participation from PayPal Ventures, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Magma Partners, and follow-on from Hi Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, Infinity Ventures and Industry Ventures.

• Victory Park Capital and Industry Ventures led a USD60m equity and debt round in November 2022; ALLVP and Infinity Ventures led a USD35m equity and debt round in January 2022. 

▸ General Catalyst and Paramark Ventures led a USD18.5m Series A for Fourier, a US-based hydrogen production startup, with participation from Positive Ventures, Airbus Ventures, Borusan Ventures, GSBackers and MCJ Collective.

▸ CLIMATE | Mombak, a Brazilian reforestation startup, secured USD17m in debt financing from Climate Fund and BNDES. 

▸ Smart Compass, a Brazilian credit recovery startup, raised ~USD17m from undisclosed investors. 

▸  Belvo, a Mexican startup providing a financial services API for mobile applications, raised a USD15m round with participation from Quona Capital and follow-on from KASZEK, YC, Kibo Ventures, Future Positive and Citi Ventures.

• Belvo raised a USD43m Series A in June 2021 and a USD10m seed round in 2020. 

▸ CIRI Ventures led a USD15m round for BioEsol, a Mexican energy and battery storage solutions startup. 

▸ SECURITY | FinTech Collective led a USD13.5m Series A for Strike, an Uruguay-based cybersecurity stress testing platform, with participation from Galicia Ventures, and follow-on from Canary, FJ Labs and Greyhound Capital.

• Greyhound Capital led a USD5.4m seed round in April 2022.

▸ CROSSBORDER | LGVP led a USD12m Series A for Cargado, a US-based cross-border freight startup, with participation from Conversion Capital, Assembly Ventures, Friends & Family Capital and follow-on from Primary Venture Partners, Ironspring Ventures, Zenda Capital and Proeza Ventures.

• Primary Venture Partners led a USD6.8m round in May 2024. 

▸ Finaktiva, a Colombian credit and factoring platform for SMEs, secured a ~USD9.3m debt facility from BBVA Spark. 

• ALIVE led a USD3m round in August 2021. 

▸ Better Tomorrow Ventures led a USD8.2m round for Divibank, a Brazilian payments platform, with participation from Endeavor Scale-Up Ventures, Alter Global, Allievo Capital and follow-on from MAYA Capital, Clocktower Ventures, Magma Partners, Gilgamesh Ventures and Rally Cap Ventures.

▸ GoPass, a Colombian integrated payments platform for toll booths, gas stations and towing services, raised a USD8m round with participation from Qualcomm Ventures and Kfund.

• KASZEK led a USD15m round in November 2023. 
• This is Qualcomm Ventures’ and KFund’s first disclosed investment in a Colombian startup. 

▸ Autograph, a Paraguay-based digital twin and AI-enabled journaling platform, raised a USD2.6m pre-seed round with participation from NFX, Long Journey, Embedding VC and Cibersons.

▸ Altis, a Brazilian credit platform, raised a USD2.6m equity and debt round from Latitud, Magma Partners and others. 

▸ Graphene Ventures led a ~USD2.2m round for Start Carreiras, a Brazilian hiring platform, with participation from MAYA Capital and Norte Ventures.

▸ Autonomy, an Argentine mobility solutions platform, raised USD1.5m from Murchison Ventures, Gabriel Martino (HSCB Argentina) and undisclosed angels. 

▸ Tarken, a Brazilian digital physical commodities trading company, raised an undisclosed round from monashees, Mandi and MAYA Capital. 

▸ Agonalea Games, an Argentina-based mobile gaming studio, raised USD2m from Mika Games. 

▸ KredFeed, a Mexico-based financing platform for the manufacturing sector, raised a USD1.5m seed round with participation from Carabela, Techstars, 2045 Ventures, The Pitch Fund, AngelHub, Newlin Ventures, GAIN and Cacao Capital.

• Angels participating include Jeremy Brown (Small Business Financing Association), Alec Randall (Sivo) and Sahari Cabello (Spin).  

▸ Magma Partners and GPCompas led a USD1.5m seed round for Nufi, a Mexican identity verification startup, with participation from Semilla Ventures, Ganas Ventures, Techstars Follow Up Fund, AngelHub and undisclosed angels. 

▸ Addem Capital invested USD1.5m in Quipu, a Colombia-based digital lending platform. 

▸ Soyio, a Chilean data protection startup, raised USD1m from Platanus Ventures, Devlabs and 99startups.

▸ Stamina VC led a  ~USD490k round for Planne, a Brazilian e-commerce platform for tourist attractions with participation from Surfside Capital, WOW Aceleradora, Westwood Capital, João Del Valle (EBANX) and Mauro Levinbook (Rextur Advance).

▸ Jumpstart, a Brazilian credit platform for immigrants, raised ~USD475k from Matthew Allan (PayPal), Brian Requarth Latitud) and undisclosed angels. 

▸ AdmiralONE, a Chilean regulatory compliance startup, raised USD462k from undisclosed angels. 

▸ Beeviral, a Brazilian referral program marketing platform, raised ~USD340k from Anjos do Brasil, Curitiba Angels, Westwood Capital, Valora Ventures, Quintal Ventures and follow-on from WOW Aceleradora.

▸ Open Datacenter invested ~USD200k in PitchYes, a Brazilian AI-enabled marketing services platform. 

▸ Newtopia VC invested in Intuitivo AI, an Argentina- and US-based retail automation startup. 

▸ DOMO.VC and Gulf Capital invested in FindUP, a Brazilian IT maintenance and support marketplace for corporate offices and retail spaces.

▸ Arca Continental invested in Sensify, an Argentine refrigeration equipment intelligence startup. 

▸ Webrock Ventures invested in FinanZero, a Brazilian consumer marketplace.

• 4Equity invested ~USD4m in March 2024; 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. 

▸ REAG Investimentos invested in BLU365, a Brazilian non-performing loans recovery platform.

Funds

▸ Igah, Ventures raised ~USD26m for Igah Patria Blend, a vehicle aimed at investing in Igah’s fourth flagship fund that is still in the market with a USD130m target as well as acquiring stakes in its third fund to provide liquidity for LPs. 

• Igah Ventures Founding Partner Pedro Melzer: “Tivemos uma demanda acima da oferta, mas não tinhamos muita margem para ultrapassá-la. Forma mais de mil investidores.”

▸ Medellin VC, a fund of funds launched by Bancoldex and Ruta N, made a ~USD3m commitment to Simma Fintech +, an early-stage fund investing in disruptive solutions for the local financial system.

• This is Medellin VC’s first public fund commitment. 
• Latin America-focused venture funds currently fundraising are welcome to submit their interest to the program.

▸ CLIMATE | IDB Lab and ChileGlobal Ventures launched Green Hub, a USD400k debt fund to invest in 10 regional climate-first startups. 

▸ WOMEN-LED | SDK Sudamerik launched Impulsa Mujer VC, an inaugural fund to back early-stage women-led startups in Chile. 

▸ US-based tech investor Plug and Play launched a regional vehicle with a USD50m target to invest in early-stage startups in Latin America, with Brazil as the main focus. 

▸ Brazil-based venture investor Catarina Capital rebranded to Primus Ventures and launched its first FIP (Fundo de Investimentos em Participações) with a ~USD25m target to invest in early-stage B2B startups in Brazil.

Global Tech

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