Deals

▸ Allianz X, the CVC arm of global insurance company Allianz, led a USD300m Series E for Argentina-based fintech Ualá, with participation from Stone Ridge Holdings Group, Pershing Square Holdings, Alan Howard, Rodina, Claure Group, and follow-on from Soros Fund Management, Goldman Sachs, SoftBank and Tencent. 

• SoftBank and Tencent led a USD350m Series D in August 2021; SoftBank and Tencent led a USD150m Series C round in 2019; Goldman Sachs led a USD34m Series B round in 2018. 

▸ Victory Park Capital provided a USD100m credit facility for ADDI, a Colombian point-of-sale (POS) lending platform.

• ADDI raised a USD36m round and secured USD50m in debt financing from Goldman Sachs in March; ADDI raised a USD80m round and secured USD120m in debt financing in December 2021; Greycroft led a USD75m Series B+ in September 2021. 

▸ LEGALTECH |Warburg Pincus led a USD86m Series D for JusBrasil, a Brazilian legal and regulatory information platform.

▸ SoftBank led a USD60m Series C for Blip (formerly Take Blip), a Brazil-based customer chatbot that runs on digital channels including WhatsApp, with participation from Microsoft.

• Warburg Pincus invested USD70m in June 2022; Warburg Pincus invested USD100m in October 2020. 

▸ Hi Ventures and Cometa led a USD59m equity and debt round for R2, a Mexican embedded lending platform for consumer-facing applications, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, YC, and follow-on from Gradient Ventures.

• CIM provided a USD100m debt facility in May 2023; Gradient Ventures led a USD15m Series A in September 2022; General Catalyst led a USD5.9m seed round in February 2022.

▸ DEBT | Fairplay, a Mexican revenue-based financing platform for DTC e-commerce brands and marketplaces, secured a USD35m credit facility from BBVA Spark. 

• Fairplay raised a USD15m Series A and secured USD20m in debt financing in November 2021.

▸ HRTECH | QED Investors led a USD30m Series B for minu, a Mexico-based employee wellness platform, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, Flourish Ventures, Clocktower Technologies, Salkantay, NAZCA, Redwood Ventures, Promotora Impact Ventures, Next Billion Capital Partners, Working Capital Fund, and follow-on from FinTech Collective.

• QED Investors invested in June; minu raised a USD10m bridge round and USD20m in debt from Accial Capital in February 2023; FinTech Collective led a USD14m Series A in March 2021.

▸ HRTECH | Ribbit Capital led a USD20m Series A for Onze, a Brazil-based corporate pension plan management platform, with participation from Atlantico and Red Ventures. 

• Ribbit Capital led a ~USD10m round in May 2021.

▸ Ribbit Capital and Andreessen Horowitz led a USD13.2m seed round for Tako, a Brazilian payroll management platform, with participation from ONEVC.

▸ Cometa led a USD12.5m Series A for Solvento, a Mexico-based debt financing platform for trucking companies, with participation from Endeavor Fwd Fund, Ironspring Ventures, Proeza Ventures, Zenda Capital, and follow-on from Quona Capital and Dynamo Ventures.

• Quona Capital led an undisclosed round in December 2023; Dynamo Ventures led a USD4.5m round in December 2021.
•  DEBT | Solvento also secured USD50m in debt from Lendable. 

▸ EDTECH | Reach Capital led a USD12m Series A for Cometa, a Mexican cash flow management platform for private schools.

• Cometa raised a USD5m round in March 2022.

▸ Upload Ventures invested in Simetrik, a Colombian B2B platform for automatic financial reconciliation.

• Goldman Sachs Asset Management led a USD55m Series B in February; FinTech Collective led a USD24m Series A in April 2022; Simetrik raised a USD5m seed round led by Cometa in April 2021. 

▸ WOMEN-LED | Point72 Ventures and HTwenty Capital led a USD10m Series A for Influur, 

a US-based influencer marketing platform with operations in the US and Latin America.

• Point72 Ventures led a USD5m seed round in April 2022.
• Influur is founded by Alessandra Angelini, Valeria Angelini, Paula Coleman and Fefi Oliveira.

▸ CLEANTECH | RA Capital Planetary Health and IDB Lab led a USD8.5m round for Bia Energy, a Colombian real-time energy consumption analytics platform for SMEs.

• KASZEK led a USD16.5m round in October 2023; Canary led a USD6m pre-seed round in July 2022.
• BBVA Spark provided a USD10m credit line in August.

▸ EDTECH | Goodwater and Reach Capital led a USD6.7m Series A for Teachy, a Brazilian AI-based school teacher management platform, with participation from Endeavor, Roble Ventures, and follow-on from NXTP. 

• NXTP led a ~USD1.6m pre-seed round in March 2023.

▸ PROPTECH | Cometa and Flourish Ventures co-led a USD5.6m Series A for MoradaUno, a Mexican rental payments protection platform, with participation from Clocktower Ventures, Picus Capital and YC.

▸ Leadout Capital led a USD5m seed round for Latii, a US-based millwork products marketplace, with participation from Era Ventures, Act One, Nine Four Ventures and RADV.

• Latii was founded by Colombians Santiago Bueno, Alejandro Roldán Pardo and Juan Pascual Orero.

▸ HEALTHTECH | Prosus Ventures invested ~USD4.8m in Mevo (formerly Nexodata), a Brazilian drug prescription platform.

• Matrix Partners led a ~USD19m Series B in August; Floating Capital led a ~USD9m pre-Series B in July 2022.

▸ HEALTHTECH | Augmental, a US-based wearable interface for people living with motor impairment, raised a USD4m seed round from Fen Ventures, Carao Ventures, SCI Ventures, Murata, Revere Partners, LivEdge Capital, Tesserakt, and angels Eric Migicovsky (Beeper), Nirav Patel (Framework) and Joey O’Doherty (Neuralink).

• Augmental was co-founded by Peruvian Tomás Vega.

▸ MAYA Capital led a ~USD3.1m round for Lerian, a Brazilian open-source core banking platform, with participation from Quartz, Supera Capital, Norte Ventures and Crivo Ventures. 

▸ GAMING | EdgeUno led a USD3m round for NoPing, a Brazilian gaming infrastructure acceleration platform.

▸ BIOTECH | Fecundis, an Argentina and Spain-based biotech startup focused on fertility, raised a ~USD2.5m seed round from Zentynel Frontier Investments, DuneGlass Capital, Fen Ventures and GridX.

▸ Slauson & Co. and Counterview Capital led a USD2.29m pre-seed round for Tumoni, a Nicaraguan banking and remittance services startup for Central American migrants, with participation from Caricaco, Seedstars International Ventures, NuMundo Ventures, Hatcher, Plug and Play and angel Uttam Nayak (Visa). 

▸ Buenavista Equity Partners led a ~USD2.2m seed round for Hoopers, a Portuguese basketball marketing startup with operations in Brazil, with participation from Portugal Ventures, Neemias Queta (NBA) and Ticha Penicheiro (WNBA).

▸ E3 Innovation and Mont Capital, led a ~USD2.1m round for Cervello, a Brazilian enterprise service management platform. 

▸ WOMEN-LED | HT3 Investimentos invested ~USD1.7m in Central da Visão, a Brazilian startup focused on providing affordable ophthalmological surgeries, with participation from Sororitê, Hangar 8 Capital, Gávea Angels, 4AM Capital, Columbia Ventures Brazil, Harvard Angels of Brazil and GV Angels.

• Central da Visão was founded by Marta Luconi.

▸ HEALTHTECH | Meet Capital led a USD1m round for Avedian, an Argentine hospital care management platform, with participation from angel Gabriel Allasia (Globant). 

▸ Oxygea Ventures, the CVC arm of Braskem, and Indicator Capital led a USD1m round for Multiledgers, a Brazilian blockchain infrastructure startup, with participation from Koyamaki Ventures.  

▸ EDTECH | Apoia, a Brazilian edtech platform for customized courses, raised USD800k from big_bets, Reach Capital, Bluestone Capital and undisclosed angels. 

▸ Quality Digital Group led a ~USD650k pre-seed round for Sinatra, a Brazilian e-commerce solutions platform, with participation from a16z, Mario Augusto Sá (NG.CASH), Cristiano Hypolito (Simpar) and Beatriz Padrão (Wellhub).

▸ FOODTECH | Manutara Ventures invested USD630k in Brota Superfoods, a Chilean plant-based foods startup. 

▸ FINEP invested ~USD590k in Labsoft, a Brazilian quality control management software.

▸ ANGEL | BR Angels led a ~USD530k round for Novvo Bem Estar, a Brazilian biotechnology startup focused on hangover prevention. 

▸ ANGEL | Neuratek, an Uruguayan process automation platform for financial companies, raised a USD500k pre-seed round from undisclosed angels.  

▸ Veredas Partners led a ~USD425k round for Revi, a Brazilian WhatsApp-based marketing platform, with participation from Crivo Ventures, Stamina VC and Verve Capital.

▸ HEALTHTECH | ABSeed Ventures led a ~USD330k pre-seed round for Clinia, a Brazilian patient management platform. 

▸ Bertha Capital led a ~USD330k round for Zemo Bank, a Brazilian neobank aimed at large corporations. 

▸ MrPink VC invested in Commet, an Argentine commission management platform. 

▸ HEALTHTECH | Zentynel invested in Axenya, a Brazilian monitoring system for chronic diseases.

• Axenya raised a USD3m round in July 2021.

Funds

▸ Across Capital reached a ~USD116 final close for its inaugural growth equity fund out of which it will invest USD5-25m checks in tech-enabled companies in the US and Latin America. 

• Across Capital’s portfolio already includes QI Tech, Zig and Akad Seguros. 
• Across Capital was founded by Rafael Costa and Alexander Noschese.

▸ LP | Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) made an undisclosed commitment to Dalus Capital’s third flagship fund. 

• Other LPs committing to the fund include DFC and IDB Lab. 

▸ LP | IDB Lab and DFC made an undisclosed commitment to Argentina-based Kamay Ventures.

• Kamay Ventures’ LPs include Coca-Cola Latin America, Grupo Arcor and Grupo Bimbo.  

▸ General Catalyst recently reached a USD8b final close across three firm strategies.

• General Catalyst’s most recent deals in LatAm include Stori, Tractian, Genial Care, Clara and R2. 

▸ FoF | Cendana launched Cendana Capital VI, its sixth flagship FoF with a USD350m target to invest in “very early stage” VC funds globally. 

• Cendana made an undisclosed commitment to Brazil-based MAYA Capital in 2022. 

▸ BIOTECH | NeuroCapital launched NeuroCapital Fund, an inaugural fund with a ~USD200m target to invest in Latin American startups bringing neuroscience discoveries to market. 

• NeuroCapital was founded by Flavio Pripas (former Redpoint eventures) and neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis.

▸ CVC | Montreal, a Brazilian data center and biometrics company, launched Montreal Ventures, a ~USD5m CVC arm to invest in early-stage startups building solutions in cyber, IoT, AI and govtech.

▸ Chilean early-stage VC Daedalus Ventures rebranded to Tantauco Ventures. 

• Daedalus Ventures was founded by Cristobal Piñera.

M&A and Exits

▸ EXIT | Chilean VC Manutara Ventures partially exited Xepelin, a Chilean payments and lending platform for SMEs, through a secondary sale to an undisclosed regional fund. 

• Manutara crystallized a 107x CoC return, according to Managing Partner Cristian Olea. 
• KASZEK and Avenir Growth led a USD111m Series B for Xepelin in May 2022.

▸ Mexican fintech Klar acquired most assets of Tribal, a San Francisco-based B2B payment platform for emerging markets. 

• Victory Park Capital provided a USD100m credit facility to Klar in 2023; General Atlantic led a USD70m round in June 2022. 
• SoftBank Latin America led a USD60m Series B for Tribal in the same year. 

▸ M&A | Brazilian enterprise software developer TOTVS acquired VarejOnline, a Brazilian POS management platform, for ~USD8m.

• This is TOTVS' most recent known acquisition since it acquired the remaining stake in RD Station, a Brazilian marketing automation platform, for ~USD51.8m in May. 

News

▸ SATELLITES | Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) is weighing whether to approve a proposal from Starlink to expand its low-Earth orbit satellite fleet in the country. 

• Starlink already has 4.4k  satellites over Brazil and aims to add another 7.5k. 
• Starlink already owns 56% of the satellite broadband market in the country as of Q3 2024.

▸ Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) approved Chilean digital investing platform Fintual to register users with no investment limits. 

• Fintual raised a USD4.2m follow-on round from Sequoia, KASZEK and Hi Ventures in March 2024 after Sequoia led a USD39m Series B in November 2021. 

▸ The Coffee, a Brazilian self-serve coffee brand backed by monashees and CapSur, will launch in Canada in January. 

• The Coffee already operates ~190 stores in Brazil and is active across 12 markets in Latin America, Europe, East Asia and the Middle East. 
• CapSur led a USD10m round in November 2023; monashees led a USD7.5m round in January of the same year.

▸ CROSSBORDER | Bytedance is launching Lark, its corporate super-app, in Brazil through a partnership with Brazilian consultancy IEST. 

• This is Bytedance’s first meaningful software expansion in the region. 

▸ CROSSBORDER | UK mobile banking startup Revolut will begin operating in Mexico in Q1 2025 after receiving approval from the CNBV earlier this year. 

• Revolut also launched operations in Brazil in May 2023. 
• Revolut’s investors include SoftBank, Tiger Global, DST Global and TCV. Revolut has raised USD2b+ in financing to date.

People and Programs

▸ Caravela Capital, Norte Ventures and Credit Saison partnered with AWS to launch The State of ESOPS in LATAM, a comprehensive study to shed light on the current state of regional startups’ practices around Employee Stock Option Plans. 

• Key insights include:

• One in four startups in Latin America establish ESOPs before raising a Series A. 
• 81% of founders use ESOPs to attract talent, while 41% see them as a cost-saving tool.
• Only 20% of companies offer ESOPs to all employees, while 40% restrict them to senior management only.

▸ RAISE Global will host the inaugural edition of RAISE LATAM 2025 in Costa Rica on March 21. GPs can apply to attend; LPs can request an invitation.

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.