TLDR

📣 LAVCA Data | State of Venture Capital in Latin America
 

📣 Kushki is Ecuador’s first unicorn 
 

📣 DEALS | New rounds for Klar, Take Blip, Pachama, Yummy, Sanar, RobinFood, clicOH and Kolors

📣 FUNDS | IFC commits USD15m to NAZCA
 

LAVCA Data

LAVCA recently delivered inaugural remarks, outlining the current "State of Venture Capital in Latin America" in a timely presentation at the VC LatAm Summit in Miami, FL.

LAVCA members can email LAVCA Director of Venture Capital Carlos Ramos de la Vega (cramos@lavca.org) and Associate Director of Research Emanuel Hernandez (ehernandez@lavca.org) to request access to the full 18-page deck, or to request additional data insights.

Deals

🦄 Ecuadorian payments platform Kushki raised a USD100m Series B+ from KASZEK, DILA Capital, SoftBank Latin America and Clocktower Ventures at a reported USD1.5b valuation. 

• Kushki raised a USD86m Series B led by SoftBank and an undisclosed growth equity firm in July 2021 at a reported ~USD600m valuation.
• Kushki is the first Ecuadorian startup surpassing a USD1b valuation. 

▸ General Atlantic led a USD70m round for Klar, a Mexican personal finance management and lending platform, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst and Acrew Capital, and follow-on from Quona Capital Mouro Capital, Prosus Ventures and IFC.

• DEBT | Klar raised an additional USD20m in venture debt from WTI.
• General Atlantic led a USD70m Series B in July 2021 and a USD15m Series A led by Prosus Ventures in 2020. 

▸ Warburg Pincus invested USD70m in Take Blip, a Brazilian CRM that runs on WhatsAppand Facebook Messenger. 

• Warburg Pincus invested USD100m in October 2020. 
• Take Blip’s clients include Claro, Itaú Unibanco, Coca-Cola, Localiza, Fiat, and TruckPad.

▸ Future Positive led a USD55m Series B for Pachama, a San Francisco-based marketplace for carbon offset projects with initiatives in Brazil, Argentina and Peru, with participation from Plus Capital, ReGen Ventures, 20VC, Wollemi Capital, Zinal Growth and Seaya Andromeda, and follow-on from Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital. 

• Participating angels include: Matias Muchnick (NotCo), Toby Lutke (Shopify), Azeem Ashar (Exponential View), Seth Goldman (Beyond Meat), Alex Will (Calm) and Claire Hughes Johnson (Stripe). 
• In October 2020, Pachama raised USD5m and in March 2021, partnered with Mercado Libre to lead Regenera America, a USD8m initiative to support two reforestation projects implemented by the Nature Conservancy and the Institute for Ecological Research in Brazil.

▸ LAST MILE | Anthos Capital led a USD47m round for Yummy, a ride-sharing and last-mile delivery platform with operations in Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru and Panama, with participation from Soma Capital, WIND Ventures, Ethos Capital and YC Continuity, and follow-on from JAM Fund. 

• Yummy raised a USD18m Series A led by Anthos Capital in November 2021 in the largest known Series A for a Venezuelan startup according to LAVCA Data. 

▸ HEALTHTECH | Peninsula Investimentos and Green Rock invested USD33.2m in Sanar, a Brazilian edtech platform designing customized online training for careers in healthcare, with follow-on from Valor Capital Group, DNA Capital and Vox Capital. 

• M&A | Sanar will use the proceeds to acquire Cetrus, a Brazilian healthcare education platform focused on sub specializations. 
• Valor and DNA Capital led a USD11m Series B for Sanar in April 2020. 

▸ Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital, Palm Drive Capital and Minerva Capital led a USD32m round for RobinFood, a Colombian restaurant management platform, with participation from Bethia, Semillero Partners and MGM Energia.

• DEBT | RobinFood raised USD16m in debt financing in 2020 and a USD15m Series B in 2019.

▸ Tiger Global led a USD25m Series A for clicOH, an Argentine e-commerce shipment monitoring platform, with participation from JAM Fund, and follow-on from Flexport, FundersClub and Vast VC. 

▸ Plugify, a Brazilian IT equipment rental platform, raised ~USD24m from Angá, Augme, Milenio Capital, Polo, Prada, Quasar, TAG and Verde.

• Porto Seguro invested earlier this year. 

▸ WOMEN-LED | UP.Partners led a USD20m Series A for Kolors, a Mexican ride-hailing bus platform for intercity commuting, with participation from Toyota Ventures, Maniv Mobility, K5 Global and Mazapil, and follow-on from Amplifica, Tuesday Capital, Expa, Lowercase, Moving Capital, MGV and Brainstorm Ventures. 

▸ AGTECH | Bradesco’s Inovabra led a ~USD17m round for Agrotools, a Brazilian competitive intelligence platform for agribusiness.

• KPTL invested in April 2020. 

▸ Point72 Ventures led a USD15.5m Series A for Incognia, a geolocation data platform for credit origination.

▸ Canaan Partners led a USD15m Series A for Marvin, a Brazilian working capital financing platform, with participation from Mauá Capital and follow-on from Canary. 

• Canary invested in August 2021. 

▸ ALLVP and NFX led a USD12m Series A for Clubbi, a Brazilian B2B commerce platform for small food retailers, with follow-on from Valor Capital Group ONEVC and BetterTomorrow Ventures. 

• Valor Capital Group and ONEVC led a USD4.5m seed round in December 2021. 
• Clubbi will launch a credit lending facility with part of the proceeds. 

▸ Astella Investimentos led a ~USD10.4m round for Bornlogic, a Brazilian omnichannel marketing software platform for SMEs.

• Astella invested ~USD1.6m in February 2021. 

▸ Cubbo, a Colombia- and Mexico-based e-commerce fulfillment startup, raised an undisclosed pre-Series A from SV Latam Capital, Gerdau Next Ventures, Community Access Fund and Gainangels. 

• Cubbo raised a USD4m seed round led by SV LatAm in December 2021.

▸ ANGEL | BigDataCorp, a Brazilian fraud prevention and risk management data platform, raised a ~USD10m round from angels including Rodrigo Guarino (Buscapé) and Paulo Humberg (Shoptime). 

▸ WEB3 | GGV Capital led a USD5.3m seed round for Modak, a Mexican Web3 platform for teen creators, with participation from monashees, NAZCA, MAYA Capital and ONEVC. 

▸ Gradient Ventures led a USD4.4m round for OlaClick, a Mexican POS and CRM platform for restaurants, with participation from Meta, Delivery Hero, Tribe Capital, Caffeinated Capital and Graph Ventures. 

• OlaClick raised a USD2m seed round in August 2021. 

▸ HRTECH | Talently, a Peruvian platform connecting freelance software developers with international companies, raised a USD3m seed round from 500 Global, Alaya Capital, Salkantay Ventures, Newtype Ventures, Potencia Ventures and Latin Leap. 

• Talently raised USD600k in February 2021.

▸ HEALTHTECH | MadFish, the investment fund of Brazilian tennis player Bruno Soares, led a ~USD2.4m round for Ease Labs, a Brazilian developer of cannabis-based medicine.

▸ BOLIVIA | Koban, a Bolivian finance management and payments platform for SMEs, raised a USD2.3m pre-seed round from Precursor Ventures, FJ Labs, iThink VC, Newtopia VC, Buentrip Ventures, Goldtruck Holdings, Class 5 Global and angel Ariel Lambrecht (99). 

• This is the largest known round for a Bolivian startup, according to LAVCA Data.

▸ PROPTECH | Grupo Solum and ENE Empreendimentos invested ~USD2m in Clube FII, a Brazilian real estate crowdfunding platform. 

▸ Honey Island Capital led a ~USD1.7m round for Turn2C, a Brazilian consortium platform, with participation from B3 and Urca Angels.

▸ Bertha Capital invested ~USD1.66m in 6place, a Brazilian credit and logistics management platform for retail franchises.

▸ Chile Ventures invested USD1m in Duemint, a Chilean invoice issuance platform for SMEs. 

▸ EDTECH | DOMO Invest invested ~USD800k in Lingopass, a Brazilian language education platform. 

▸ HEALTHTECH | Grupo RPP led a USD600k pre-seed round for LIFE, a Peruvian health and wellness platform for employees. 

▸ Maringá Capital invested ~USD600k in Iris Pay, a Brazilian manufacturer of self-serve beer stations. 

▸ Paisa, a Mexican remittance transfer platform, raised a USD600k pre-seed round from Magma Partners, Precursor Ventures, Latitud, Forum VC and Gainangels. 

• Angels participating included Loreanne Garcia (Kavak), Claire Diaz-Ortiz (Kleiner Perkins), Juan Zavala (FinZi) and Joshua Gordon-Blake (Pangea). 

▸ DOMO Invest and Bossanova Investimentos invested ~USD520k in Infleet, a Brazilian fleet operations management platform for logistic companies.

• DOMO and Bossanova also led a ~USD240k round in October 2021. 

▸ Beeok, a Chilean environmental compliance platform for corporates, raised a USD500k round from Grupo Imagine Ventures and Magical Startups. 

▸ HRTECH / CRYPTO | Germany-based VC Flash Ventures led a USD500k pre-seed round for Yobz, a Colombian on-demand young professional recruiting and crypto platform for professionals with no prior work experience.

▸ Brazilian consulting firm MSSantini invested ~USD460k in Sportidia, a Brazilian social network for esports players. 

▸ FOODTECH | Food To Save, a Brazilian last-mile delivery platform focused on repurposing food items that would otherwise be discarded, raised a ~USD260k round through equity platform CapTable. 

▸ HEALTHTECH | Platanus Ventures led a USD220k pre-seed round for Cacttus, a Chilean health insurance platform for pets.

▸ PROPTECH | Hipal, a Colombian sale and rental property management platform, raised USD200k from undisclosed angels.

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

M&A

▸ Vórtx, a Brazilian asset custody and issuance platform for corporate trusts, acquired Basement, a Brazilian cap table management platform. 

• US-based growth equity fund FTV Capital led a ~USD38m Series B for Vórtx in April 2021.

▸ Box Delivery, a Brazilian last-mile delivery platform, acquired VUXX, a Brazilian urban logistics startup for ~USD7m.

▸ HEALTHTECH | Afya Limited, a Brazilian medical education group, acquired Glic, a Brazilian diabetes and glucose monitoring platform, for ~USD4.4m.

▸ HRTECH | Visma, a Norwegian enterprise software company, acquired Mandü, a Peruvian employee performance monitoring platform.

▸ US-based enterprise software platform Pegasystems acquired EverFlow, a Brazilian corporate workflow automation platform. 

▸ Nvoip, a Brazilian B2B cloud-based telecommunications platform, acquired Mais.im, a Brazilian corporate communication platform.

• BR Angels led a ~USD600k round for Nvoip in November 2020.

Funds

▸ IFC made a USD15m commitment to Nazca III, Mexic0-based NAZCA’s third fund to invest in early-stage Latin American startups. 

• NAZCA’s latest investments include Jüsto, Meru, Crehana, Asistensi, Sugo, Yuno and Datanomik.

▸ Infinity Ventures launched a global fund with a USD158m target to invest in early-stage fintech focused on financial infrastructure and commerce enablement. Infinity Ventures was founded by PayPal alums Mario Riuz, Jeremy Jonker and Jay Ganatra. 

• Infinity Ventures portfolio in Latin America includes Mendel and Belo.

▸ PROPTECH | 1Sharpe Ventures launched a fund with a USD90m target to invest in early-stage proptech startups. 

▸ BIOTECH | Vesper Ventures launched a fund with a USD70-100m target to invest in early-stage biotech startups in Brazil. 

▸ KPTL and Fundo Vale launched a fund with a ~USD40m target to invest in startups focused on solving deforestation challenges in Brazil. 

▸ DEBT | Naia Capital launched a ~USD30m venture debt fund to invest in early-stage startups in Brazil. 

▸ MSW Capital launched MSW MultiCorp II, its second fund with a ~USD20m target anchored by corporate investors Moura Baterias, BB Seguros and AgeRio.

▸ CVC | Brazilian edtech Ânima Educação launched Ânima Ventures, a ~USD30m CVC fund to invest in early-stage startups raising seed or Series A rounds. 

▸ CVC | Brazilian media conglomerate Grupo RIC launched Quintal Ventures, a ~USD2m CVC fund to invest in early-stage digital media startups in Brazil.

Startups

▸ CRYPTO | Mexican crypto exchange Bitso will provide up to USD120m in crypto-backed funding to debt investor Addem Capital. 

▸ Canasta Rosa, a Mexican marketplace for DIY and handmade goods, partnered with Argentine e-commerce platform Tiendanube to enable its clients to launch online stores leveraging Tiendanube’s backend infrastructure. 

• Canasta Rosa raised a USD3m Series A led by Elevar Equity in 2019. 

▸ ePayco, a Colombian payment platform, partnered with PayPal to enable the withdrawal of proceeds from international sales directly into Colombia-based accounts. 

• ePayco was selected to participate in Google for Startups’ 2020 summer cohort. 

▸ Favo, a Peruvian grocery fulfillment platform leveraging local sales reps to market products for last-mile distribution, is pausing its Brazilian operations. 

• Favo raised a USD26.5m Series A led by Tiger Global in October 2021.

  "I never thought it would be easy, nor am I here to glamorize the temporary closure of this operation that cost me nights of very little sleep, anxiety disorders, and a lot of absence from the rest of my life, but to declare that we are doing it in a dignified way, the same way we started: taking care of people." -  Marina Proença, Co-Founder

People & Programs

LAVCA WEEK | Save the date for LAVCA Week 2022, taking place October 11-14 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. Our flagship meeting will include networking and discussions on the latest trends in PE, VC and other private capital strategies. 

▸ DEEPTECH | Petrobras launched Petrobras Programa Petrobras Conexões para Inovação, the fourth edition of its program to invest ~USD4m in deeptech startups in Brazil. Applications are now open. 

▸ CLIMATE | Dalus Capital and AWS are hosting a LATAM Climate Innovation Summit in Mexico City on June 16. Climate founders are welcome to submit their deck to be considered to pitch to investors.

LAVCA Job Board

▸ SVB is looking for a Director and VP to lead its SVB Startup Banking LATAM platform focused on client and partner engagement. Applications are open to candidates with at least 10 years of experience for the Director position and at least three years of experience for the VP position. 

▸ Elevar Equity is looking for a Financial Analyst to join their team in Mexico City. Interested candidates are welcome to apply. 

▸ Zendesk is looking for a Startup Partnerships Manager to join their team out of their São Paulo office. Candidates with at least five years of experience are welcome to apply. 

LAVCA Members: We welcome your job recs for future editions. Email cramos@lavca.org with information on relevant opportunities.

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.