LATAM VENTURE BULLETIN A must-read roundup of startup deals and news on emerging technologies in Latin America, delivered to over 7,000 investors, entrepreneurs and corporates bi-weekly. |
LAVCA Data Insight LAVCA analyzed 25 of the most active VC investors in Latin America. An investor allocating in the region generally shares less than 20% of their portfolio with any other investor. Shared portfolio concentration is generally lower among local VCs, as they tend to look at a broader set of early-stage companies. |
Some of the most common investment pairs include QED Investors & KASZEK, Tiger Global & monashees, Tiger Global & KASZEK, DOMO Invest & Bossanova, SoftBank & monashees, SoftBank & KASZEK, SoftBank & Valor Capital Group and Endeavor Catalyst & KASZEK. LAVCA Members can access LAVCA's 2023 Startup Directory & Ecosystem Insights for a portfolio overlap analysis for 25 select Latin American tech investors, as well as a list of the most active VCs, CVCs and Family Offices in Latin America. Non-members can purchase access to the data. |
LAVCA Week 2023 IN TWO WEEKS: LAVCA will host LAVCA Week on 10-13 October at the Conrad New York Downtown in New York City. Featured Sessions Include: Fireside Chat: In Conversation with monashees & Ualá Eric Acher of monashees and Pierpaolo Barbieri of Ualá Navigating the Market: Insights from VC-backed CEOs with Deepak Chhugani of Nuvocargo and Zach Oslin of Elenas Strategies for Co-Investing with Corporates with Gabriela Toribio of Wayra Brazil/Vivo Ventures, Rodrigo Riveroll of Televisa Univision and Jose Ortiz Masllorens of Mercado Libre. Latin American Tech Data Insights with Julio Vasconcellos of Atlantico, Emanuel Hernandez of LAVCA Registration is open to LAVCA Members, qualified institutional investors and non-member private capital investors, subject to approval.
LAVCA Memberscan access discounted attendee pricing here.
For inquiries, please contact lavcaweek@lavca.org. |
Funds ▸ CalPERS made a USD300m commitment to Thrive VIII, Thrive Capital’s eight growth fund launched in 2022. This is CalPERS' first commitment to Thrive. Thrive VIII has raised USD2.8b for the fund so far. Thrive’s most recent investments in Latin America include Pipo Saúde, Loft, Pitzi and Nubank. Thrive Capital was founded by Joshua Kuschner. ▸ CLEANTECH | CPP Investments and The Rockefeller Foundation made USD30m and USD5m commitments respectively to Fundo de Reflorestamento da Amazônia, a fund launched by Brazilian decarbonization startup Mombak with a USD100m target to invest in carbon removal initiatives in the Amazon. French insurer AXA just announced a partnership with Mombak, a Brazilian decarbonization startup, to invest USD49m in reforestation projects across Brazil. Mombak raised an undisclosed round from KASZEK, Union Square Ventures, Bain Capital, CI Ventures and Byers Capital in January. ▸ BIOTECH | Eurofarma, a Brazilian pharmaceutical multinational, launched a USD100m CVC fund to invest in early-stage biotech startups in Latin America. Eurofarma select investments include Ocean Drop, Medway and Psicologia Viva. ▸ CLEANTECH | Copel, the recently privatized company of the Brazilian State of Paraná, launched a ~USD30m CVC fund to invest in early-stage startups developing solutions for renewable energy, clean energy, and energy as a service. Vox Capital will manage the vehicle. ▸ SECONDARIES | Attom Capital launched its inaugural fund to acquire secondary stakes from investors, angels and employees in Latin American startups. Attom Capital was founded by Antonia Rojas, former Partner at ALLVP, and Iñigo Martínez Gil, Co-Founder of Mexican used car marketplace Odetta. ▸ KPTL was selected by Brazil’s Finep to manage a ~USD9m fund to invest in up to 25 early-stage Brazilian startups. ▸ Brazilian accelerator Darwin Startups launched an early-stage fund with a ~USD16m target to invest in companies that have participated in its program since 2015. Brazilian asset manager XMS Investimentos made the fund’s first commitment. Darwin Startups latest investments include Yapoli, Revpay, Payface, CondoConta and MindMiners. |
Deals ▸ LOGISTICS | QED Investors and Bicycle Capital led a ~USD51m Series C for Mottu, a Brazilian motorbike rental service for last-mile delivery companies, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst and follow-on from Caravela. This is Bicycle’s first known direct investment from its inaugural fund. Base Partners and Crankstart, the family foundation of Michael Moritz of Sequoia, led a USD30m Series B in July 2022. ▸ LOGISTICS | Conviavilité Ventures, the CVC arm of Pernod Ricard, led a USD50m Series D for JOKR/Daki, a NY- and Berlin-based last mile retail delivery platform, at a USD800m post-money valuation, with participation from Lombard Odier, and follow-on from monashees, Tiger Global, G Squared, GGV Capital, Balderton Capital and Greycroft. 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. This is the second known investment from Conviavilité in Latin America. ▸ Alexia Ventures led a USD10m Series A bridge round for Rocket.Chat, a Brazil-based open-source platform for team collaboration and customer service, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, Scaleup Ventures, and Bob Young (RedHat), and follow-on from Valor Capital Group, monashees, Greycroft, NEA, Graphene Ventures and DGF Investimentos. Valor Capital Group led a US$19m Series A in February 2021. ▸ LOGISTICS | EXT Capital led a ~USD10m round for Fretadão, a Brazilian transportation rental platform for companies. ▸ Connectly, a US-based message-driven sales platform, raised a USD7.85m Series A from Volpe Capital and RX Ventures to grow its Latin America operations. ▸ DEBT | Rocketfy, a Colombian e-commerce management platform for SMEs, raised USD7m in debt from undisclosed investors. Rocketfy raised a USD2m seed round from undisclosed investors in January. ▸ AGTECH | Kinea Ventures, the CVC arm of Itaú, led an undisclosed Series A for Nagro, a Brazilian financing platform for agricultural producers, with participation from the Fintech Revolution fund. Nagro raised a ~USD12.8m pre-Series A in December 2021. ▸ Better Tomorrow Ventures and Abstract Ventures led a ~USD6m seed round for Caliza, a US-based startup that provides dollar-denominated transaction services to Brazilian financial institutions. Caliza raised a ~USD5m round in August 2021. ▸ CLEANTECH | CleanLight, a Chilean clean energy hardware manufacturing startup, raisedUSD3.2m from undisclosed Canadian investors.
▸ Wollef led a USD2.3m round for Syscap, a Mexico-based private credit management platform for non-bank lenders, with participation from Redwood Ventures, 500 Global, Melek Capital, Angel Hub Ventures and undisclosed angels.
▸ CLEANTECH | Vibra Ventures, the CVC arm of Vibra Energia, made a USD2m follow-on investment in EZVolt, a Brazilian developer of electric vehicle charging stations. CVC | Vibra invested USD1m in February 2022. ▸ CVC | BB Ventures, the CVC fund of Banco do Brasil, invested USD1.4m in iRancho, a Brazilian livestock management platform for ranchers. Agroven and BR Angels invested ~USD450k in 2021. ▸ Mission Brasil, a Brazilian outsourced talent platform, raised ~USD1.3m from DOMO Invest and Headline. ▸ HRTECH | M4 Ventures and Caixa Capital invested ~USD800k in MyCareforce, a Portugal-based recruiting platform for nursing professionals. investment proceeds will be used to expand operations in Brazil. ▸ EDTECH | databits, an Ecuadorian online learning platform for up-skilling employees in data science, raised a USD600k round from BuenTrip Ventures, 500 Global and Stonks. databits was selected to participate in 500’s Somos Lucha Batch 15 in 2022. ▸ Ace Ventures led a~USD600k roundfor Frota 162, a Brazilian automotive fleet management service, with participation from Venture Hub and Espírito Santo’s FUNSES1. ▸ Blind Creator, a Mexico-based management platform for influencers, raised a ~USD580k pre-seed round from Amador Holdings, Kuiper, Brian Requarth (Latitud) and Alejandra Ríos (Ambrosía). ▸ CLEANTECH | Irani Ventures invested ~USD280k in growPack, a Brazilian sustainable food packaging startup. ▸ N5, an Argentina-based software management company for financial institutions raised an undisclosed round with participation from Illuminate Financial, Exor Ventures, Madrone Capital Partners, LTS Investments and ArpexCapital. ▸ WOMEN LED | IMPAQTO Capital invested in ELSA, a Peruvian sexual harassment prevention platform. ELSA was co-founded by Marlene Molero and Ivonne Quiñones. ▸ Falconi, a Brazil-based people management consultancy,invested in H:Data, a Brazilian backend management platform for clinicians.
▸ CANVAS Partners invested in Ukma, a Mexico-based e-commerce startup for sculptures.
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Exits & M&A ▸ M&A | Kolors, a Mexican ride-hailing bus platform for intercity commutes, acquired Urbvan, a Mexican ride-hailing platform. Egypt-based ride-hailing company Swvl acquired Urbvan in July 2022, representing a partial exit for Capria Ventures. UP.Partners led a USD20m Series A for Kolors in June 2022. ▸ M&A | Sinapse, a Brazilian financial process automation startup, acquired UpTick, a Brazilian accounting firm focused on SMEs. Sinapse raised ~USD850k from angels in April 2022. |
News ▸ Amazon launched its biggest fulfillment center in Latin America in Mexico. ▸ BBVA Spark launched its fourth office globally in Argentina to provide banking and lending services to regional startups. This is BBVA Spark’s second office opening in the region this year, after opening its Colombia presence in March. BBVA is one of the most recent firms to join the LAVCA community. ▸ Nubank launched collateralized consumer loans in Brazil in an effort to expand its credit portfolio while limiting its risk of default. ▸ POLICY | Brazilian President Lula da Silva signed an executive order to tax income from both closed-end funds (15% - 20%) and offshore funds (0% - 22.5%). An estimated 2.5k Brazilians have invested in closed-end funds, representing 12.3% of the country’s total investment funds, per Reuters. Endeavor reviewed the implications of this new fiscal policy for VC funds. |
New LAVCA Member LAVCA welcomes new member BBVA Spark. BBVA Spark BBVA Spark is the bank of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. BBVA Spark invests in venture capital funds specialized in high-growth companies, provides full banking services and financing to innovative companies in their different growth stages with sophisticated products such as venture debt or growth loans. Investment Focus | Venture capital funds specialized in high-growth companies Preferred Geos | Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Spain Year Founded | 2022 Fund Portfolio Includes | ALLVP, Cometa, Dila Capital, NAZCA, Angel Ventures, Axon Capital, Beable Capital, Extension Fund, Leadwind, Swanlaab Ventures Key Contacts | Santiago Muguruza (Head of VC Investments), Joe Naffah (Head BBVA Spark LatAm), Jose Manuel Manquez (Senior Investment Manager) |
People & Programs ▸ Riverwood Capital appointed Keith Janosky as CFO of the firm. Keith was the former CFO at Khosla Ventures. ▸ Capria Ventures is looking for a Senior Investment Analyst to join its team based in Mexico City or São Paulo. Interested candidates are welcome to apply. Capria is also looking for an Investment Fellow to join its team in Brazil. Candidates can apply here. ▸ CLEANTECH | Congrats to the 10 startups selected to participate in Regneración by All In Initiative, a joint accelerator program launched by The Yield Lab LatAm and Nestlé México to finance and support startups developing technologies for carbon reduction, circular economy and water usage: Ainwater, Solena, Modore, ucrop.it, Instacrops, Agree, Verqos, BreakPET MX, microTERRA and MicroCios. ▸ Congrats to the investors and founders selected to Bloomberg Linea’s 500 Most Influential People in Latin America 2023: Abilio Diniz (Carrefour), Alejandro Santo Domingo (Valorem), André Esteves (BTG Pactual), David Velez and Cristina Junqueira (Nubank), Daniela Binatti (Pismo), David Arana (Konfio), Eduardo Saverin (B Capital), Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceshi (Brex), Jaime and Gabriel Gilinski (Grupo Gilinski), Manoela Mitchell (Pipo Saúde), Marcelo Claure (Bicycle), Marcos Galperin (Mercado Libre), Marcos Leta (Fazenda Futuro), Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala (Tresalia Capital), Martin Escobari (General Atlantic), Matias Muchnick (NotCo), Monique Oliveira (iFood), Brynne McNuly (Habi). ▸ URUGUAY | Uruguay Innovation Hub is looking to finance an international accelerator looking to expand its presence, operating and investing capabilities in Uruguay. Interested organizations are welcome to applybefore November 20.
▸ IDB Lab and The Climate Investment Fund launched EIT Climate-KIC, an initiative to support investors and startup companies working on carbon emission reduction strategies across 12 countries. Additional information here.
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