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Editor's Note: The LatAm Venture Bulletin is produced by Carlos Ramos de la Vega, LAVCA’s Manager of Venture Capital. Former Editor Julie Ruvolo now publishes our global newsletter, the Global Tech Brief.

TLDR

📢 Kavak raises third largest round for a Latin American tech startup after Rappi's USD1b in 2019 and Nubank's USD750m earlier this year.

📢 SoftBank launches USD3b Latin America Fund II and USD300m early stage fund

📢 Mercado Libre and KASZEK launch USD250m SPAC

📢 New Rounds for ADDI, GAIA, EBAC Online, Traive, ISA LAB, Cayena

LAVCA WEEK 2021

> Thanks to everyone who joined us for LAVCA Week meetings in virtual format. We hope to see you next year in New York.

🔥 Special thanks to the following LAVCA members who led breakout discussions: Astella Investimentos, Capria Ventures, Redpoint eventures, Siguler Guff, IG4 Capital, Ashmore Colombia, NXTP, Mercado Libre, Crescera Capital, Advent International, ALLVP, monashees, Amadeus Capital Partners, Linzor Capital, TC Latam Partners, Hamilton Lane, Jaguar Growth Partners, Venable, Volpe Capital, BTG Pactual, Actis, MGM Innova, Microsoft, Qualcomm Ventures, SVB and Valor Capital Group.

NEW DATA

> Atlantico launched the second edition of its Latin America Digital Transformation Report.

• We found three broad factors that drive the timing and magnitude of tech penetration. People: while new graduates are eager to fill tech jobs and launch startups, gig workers increasingly turn to startups for flexible sources of income; Capital: although capital inflows to fund innovation have been rapidly increasing, the region is still far from its full potential; and Regulation: although the region has a history of pro-innovation regulation, there are several critical ongoing debates often fueled by special interest groups that put progress at risk.
• We thank Managing Partner Julio Vasconcellos for the insights during the Tech Data Launch & Insights main stage session at LAVCA Week.
  

> LAVCA’s sixth annual Latin American Startup Directory profiles 299 startups that raised USD1m+ in venture funding in 2020 and 1H 2021, during a time of record venture investment in the region.

• LAVCA members can download a data pack with additional details, including startup founders and markets of operation.

> LAVCA’s 2021 Mid-Year Industry Data & Analysis includes verified fundraising, investment and exit activity across VC, PE, real assets and private credit. Private capital investment in Latin America reached USD10.3b across 402 deals in 1H 2021, more than twice the amount deployed in 1H 2020.

• View top-level analysis. LAVCA members can download the full deal file.
• GPCA members can view our global Mid-Year 2021 Private Capital Data & Analysis covering fundraising, investment and exit activity across Asia, Latin America, Africa, CEE and the Middle East.

DEALS

> #CARS #UNICORN Mexican car resale marketplace Kavak raised a USD700m Series E led by General Catalyst, with participation from Tiger Global, SoftBank, Ribbit Capital, Spruce House, D1 Capital, SEA and Founders Fund at a reported USD8.7b valuation.

• Kavak raised a USD485m Series D in April at a reported USD4b valuation; SoftBank, DST Global and Greenoaks Capital invested in 2020 at a reported USD1.2b valuation.
• Kavak launched operations in Brazil last month and announced a USD500m investment off their balance sheet to support it.
• VIEW LAVCA’s Unicorn Leaderboard for the latest list of LatAm unicorns.
• We thank Co-Founder and Chief People Officer Loreanne Garcia for leading our breakout for Startup CEOs at LAVCA Week.
  

> Greycroft led a USD75m Series B+ for Addi, a Colombian point-of-sale lending platform, with participation from GGV Capital, Citius Capital and Intersection Growth Partners, and follow-on from Union Square Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Endeavor Catalyst, Foundation Capital, monashees and Quona Capital.

• This is Greycroft’s second known investment in Latin America after participating in Rocket.Chat’s USD19m Series A in February.
• Addi raised a USD35m Series B and USD30m in debt financing from Architect Capital in May.

> SoftBank led a USD50m Series C for GAIA, a Mexican digital on-demand furniture and interior design platform.

• IDB Invest led a USD15m round in 2020; Rise Capital led a USD15m Series B in 2018.

 

> #EDTECH Russian PE firm Baring Vostok Capital Partners led a USD11m Series A for EBAC Online, a Brazilian upskilling platform for design, marketing and software engineer professionals, with follow-on from Begin Capital, AngelsDeck and Sergey Solonin (The FinTech Association). EBAC Online was co-founded by Alpha Capital SPAC President Raphael Reinhauser.

• This is Baring Vostok’s first known investment in a Latin American tech startup.

 

> Picus Capital led a USD3.5m Series A for Cayena, a Brazilian food and cleaning products wholesale marketplace for restaurants.

> #CVC Minerva Foods led a USD3m Series A for Traive, a Brazilian lending platform for agricultural producers.

• Traive raised ~USD2.8m from SP Ventures, Bread & Butter Ventures and Techstars in November 2020.

> #CLEANTECH #CVC DX Ventures, the CVC arm of Brazilian wood panel manufacturer Duratex, invested ~USD2.8m in Noah Wood Building Design, a Brazilian sustainable construction material manufacturer targeting a negative carbon footprint for its wood manufacturing processes.

> #HEALTHTECH Canary led a ~USD2.6m Series A for ISA LAB, a Brazilian at-home vaccination service, with participation from Norte Ventures and MatterScale.

> #CVC Via, the CVC arm of Brazilian retailer Via Varejo, acquired a minority stake in GoPublic, Poupa Certo and byebnk to integrate the companies’ product suite with BanQi, a Brazilian digital bank they acquired in May 2020.

• In June, Via Varejo launched a ~USD50m CVC fund to back Brazilian startups developing credit, logistics and customer engagement solutions.

> #SECURITY KPTL, Cedro Capital and FC Partners invested ~USD1.2m in SVA Tech, a Brazilian security camera management system for industrial facilities.

> #PROPTECH Redpoint eventures invested ~USD1.2m in seed round+ in CondoConta, after leading a ~USD1.32m seed round in March.

 

> #AGTECH Anjos do Brasil and Curitiba Angels invested ~USD240k in Favo Tecnologia, a Brazilian urban agriculture and indoor cultivation solutions platform.

> ALIVE made a bridge investment in Symplifica, a Colombian payroll management platform focused on formalizing domestic employment.

> INCA Ventures and Angel Ventures Peru invested in Prestamype, a Peruvian working capital financing platform for SMEs.

• COO Laure Schlesinger: “We chose to design products tailored for a segment which is particularly underserved by the traditional financial players and even by the other fintechs in Peru: micro or small businesses with funding needs higher than USD5,000 that are too big to be served by microfinance entities and too small to access a bank loan.”

> #CLEANTECH Zletric, a Brazilian charging stations network for electric vehicles, raised ~USD1m through equity crowdfunding platform CapTable.

> #EXIT Confrapar exited Prova Facil (formerly Starline), a Brazilian exam application and correction platform for small and medium educational institutions, through a sale to Brazilian education holding Ser Educacional.

• Confrapar invested USD1.2m in 2011 and USD1.5m in 2013.

FUNDS

> SoftBank launched SoftBank Latin America Fund II with a USD3b initial commitment.

• SoftBank’s Latin America Fund I has achieved a net 85% IRR, according to the company.
• SoftBank also launched a USD300m early stage-focused fund to invest in tech startups in the region. Redpoint eventures partner Rodrigo Baer will be co-leading the fund.
  

 

> #SPAC Mercado Libre and KASZEK launched MELI Kaszek Pioneer Corp (MEKA), a Miami-based USD250m SPAC targeting a Latin America tech company in e-commerce, financial services, logistics, healthcare, education, enterprise software or entertainment that has significant partnerships with the Mercado Libre's ecosystem.

> 500 held a USD17m final close for 500 Luchadores III, the firm’s third fund planning to back 130 early stage startups in Latin America, run by Santiago Zavala.

• IDB Lab made an undisclosed commitment to Luchadores III in July 2020.
• 500 Startups just rebranded to 500 Global.
  

> #DEBT Brazilian VC Fuse Capital held a USD15m first close for an equity- and venture debt-focused vehicle with a USD25m target.

• Fuse Capital will allocate 70% of the capital to equity contributions and 30% to debt financing with a 6% annual coupon.

> #COSTARICA Costa Rican incubator Carïcaco launched Fondo Despegar to invest in pre-seed startups.

The LatAm Venture Bulletin is the VC/tech newsletter and content platform of
The Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America.

Have news we should include? Please email news@lavca.org.