Deals

▸ Brazilian reforestation startup Mombak raised ~USD18m from Santander and BNDES, marking the first investment from Brazil’s New Climate Fund. 

• Mombak restores degraded Amazon land to generate carbon credits, with buyers including Microsoft and Google. 

▸ Valor Capital Group led a ~USD14m round for Principia, a Brazilian financial and ERP solutions platform for educational institutions, with participation from ARC Capital, Supera, Spectra, FJ Labs, Actyus, AXA and Crestone. 

• Valor Capital Group led a ~USD10m round in August 2023.

▸ AGTECH | Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) invested in Agrolend, a Brazilian unsecured credit platform for small crop farmers.

• Creation Investments and Syngenta Group Ventures led a USD53m Series C in October 2024; Valor Capital Group led a USD14m Series A in January 2022.

▸ HEALTHTECH | Cloud9 Capital led a ~USD8.8m Series A for Next Fit, a Brazilian fitness and sports management startup, with follow-on from Parceiro Ventures.

▸ COSTA RICA | Hawthorne Food Ventures led a USD3.5m seed round for ClearLeaf, a Costa Rican non-toxic agricultural products startup. 

▸ CLEANTECH | Circular Brain, a Brazilian electronic waste management startup, raised ~USD3.5m from Lorene Urban Mining, a Brazil-based metal recycling company.  

▸ Family Office led a ~USD3.2m round for Sellera.AI, a Brazilian sales management platform. 

▸ SP Ventures led a USD2.6m round for Blooms, a Mexico-based financial solutions platform for fruit and vegetable exporters. 

▸ BIOTECH | CALICE, an Argentine agricultural biotechnology company, raised a USD2.5m round from Astanor, Xperiment Ventures, AIR Capital, Innventure and GrainCorp Ventures, with follow-on from Draper Cygnus.

• Draper Cygnus led a USD1.5m seed round in February. 

▸ Manutara Ventures and H&M led a USD2.1m round for Vestua, a Chilean clothing resale marketplace. 

• H&M invested in July 2022. 

▸ big bets and Fluent Ventures led a ~USD2.1m round for Avenia (formerly BRLA), a cross-border crypto payments platform, with participation from Grão VC.

▸ Hi Ventures led a USD2m seed round for Melian (fka Sirvana), an Argentine AI-first shopping discovery platform.

• Melian had previously raised USD615k from Newtopia VC and Broom Ventures, and angels Borja Matel (Lemon Cash), Diego Pando (Brubank) and Sullyen Almeida (monashees).

▸ Amador and Salkantay Ventures led a USD1.7m round for Finnecto, a Mexico-based company payments management platform, with participation from BuenTrip Ventures, Hustle Fund, Kfund, The Pitch Show, adn.vc and Punto Cero Ventures. 

▸ Poliglota, a Chilean language teaching platform, raised USD1.5m via crowdfunding. 

▸ Kortex Ventures led a USD1.5m round for Huna, a Brazilian cancer screening startup, with participation from big bets, Niu Ventures, New Ventures Capital and undisclosed angels. 

▸ Equity Group invested ~USD1m in Selfless.chat, a Brazilian automated customer service platform. 

▸ Estratz, a Brazilian software solutions startup, raised a ~USD350k round from João Landau, João Eduardo Lopes, Luiz Guilherme Gama (Vista Capital) and undisclosed angels.

▸ Obra Vista, a Brazilian construction technology company, raised ~USD180k from undisclosed investors. 

▸ HEALTHTECH | Wayra invested in Omni Saúde, a Brazilian pharmacy voucher management platform.

• Green Rock led a ~USD2m round in May 2024; Brazilian investor VEC led ~USD1m seed round in June 2023.
• Co-founder Fernando Domingues also founded Conexa Saúde, a telemedicine company, and Cannect, a medical cannabis ecosystem. 

▸ HEALTHTECH | Impact Ventures PSM Seed invested in Preventix, a Mexico-based cervical cancer screening technology startup. 

▸ Ganas Ventures invested in Vitrinnea, an El Salvador-based e-commerce marketplace for secondhand goods. 

• Atta Impact Capital invested in August 2024; Caricaco invested in March 2023.

▸ Astella Investimentos and YC led an undisclosed round for Estoca, a Brazil-based e-commerce logistics platform.

▸ Gulf Capital led an undisclosed round for FindUP, a Brazilian IT maintenance and support marketplace for corporate offices and retail spaces.

Funds

▸ Gilgamesh Ventures reached a USD20m final close for its second flagship fund to invest in early-stage fintech startups globally. 

• Gilgamesh’s latest deals in LatAm include Nuvia, Divibank, Niva, Iglu, Brinta and Nexu. The firm is a prior investor in Klar, Xepelin and Pomelo. 
• Gilgamesh was co-founded by Miguel Armaza and Andrew Endicott. 

▸ Nascent VC reached a USD15m first close for its second flagship fund focused on pre-seed ands seed stage investments. 

• Nascent VC is led by Bernardo Cordero (Linio), Victor Noguera (Clau) and Archie Cochrane (PayU). 
• Nascent VC’s Fund I – their firm’s debut fund with USD2.5m in committed capital – has reached a USD6.5x in TVPI and 5.2 in DPI so far. 

▸ Chilean asset manager Ameris Capital and venture investor Manutara Ventures launched Ameris Manutara Fund III, a fund with a USD100m target to invest in Latin American startups seeking to raise a Series A or B. 

▸ Costa Rica-based EcoEnterprises Fund reached an undisclosed first close for EcoEnterprises Partners IV, its fourth flagship fund to invest in Latin America-focused climate-resilient businesses. 

• EcoEnterprises’ portfolio includes Sistema.bio, Nuu, Ecoflora and Runa.

▸ ENERGY | Brazilian oil and gas company PRIO launched PRIO Ventures, a ~24m CVC fund to be managed by Citrino Ventures focused on strategic and complementary investments in the energy sector. 

▸ HEALTHTECH | Brazilian healthcare management company Unimed-BH and Aberrta Saúde, the healthcare association for the employees of ArcelorMittal, will invest ~USD12m during the next four years in Brazilian healthtechs.

News

▸ DATA CENTERS | Brazilian asset manager Alianza Investimentos and GIC launched a JV to invest ~USD340m in Brazil-based data centers. 

• GIC will hold the majority stake, with funds directed toward sale-leaseback and built-to-suit projects totaling 40MW, expected to close by late 2025. 

▸ Brazilian fintech Nomad received authorization from the US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to operate as a broker-dealer in the US. 

• Nomad’s investors include monashees, ONEVC, Spark Capital, Propel Venture Partners, Globo Ventures and Abstract Ventures. 

▸ DELIVERY | Chinese last-mile delivery giant Meituan is entering Brazil under its international brand, Keeta, with a planned ~USD1b investment over the next five years. 

• Situational awareness: iFood just announced a key partnership with Uber, allowing users to book rides directly through the app. 

▸ Telefonica is looking to sell its Chile-based assets to refocus on its core markets across Spain, Brazil, the UK and Germany.

▸ Mary Meeker just issued her first tech report since 2019. Read her 340+ page take on AI. 

▸ CROSSBORDER | Huawei and VirtuEyes launched a rural connectivity initiative that uses AI-enabled sensors and cloud-connected cameras to monitor farms in the Brazilian state of Goiás and in São Paulo. 

• The pilot will track metrics like water levels, temperature and pasture health to support more precise farm management. 

▸ KEO World, a Miami-based BNPL startup backed by Montreaux Growth Partners and HayFin Capital, launched operations in Brazil with a B2B payments and financing platform, Workeo, in partnership with BTG Pactual.

• Montreux Growth Partners led a USD20m round in July 2022. 

▸ Samir Kaji of Allocate reviews the increasingly barbell-like approach to venture investing in It's time to retire the One-Size-Fits-All Definition for Venture.

People & Programs

▸ Antler is hosting the sixth edition of its residency program for early founders in Brazil starting in August. This is a 10-week fully immersive program in São Paulo. Applications are now open. 

▸ ABVCAP will host ABVCAP Experience 2025 on 10-11 June in São Paulo. Registration is now open. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Association's founding.

▸ Skandia and WAI (Women in Alternative Investments) will launch their second mentorship program with an intimate conversation with Monica Mandelli (KKR) on the role of women investors in the global alternatives industry in Bogotá, Colombia on 5 June at 6 pm. Registration is now open. 

Global Tech

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