> Movile raised a fresh US$124m round of financing for iFood, led by Naspers, with participation from Innova Capital. Last year, Movile raised US$82m for iFood and US$53m for Movile, also from Naspers and Innova Capital.

• TechCrunch reports Movile plans to expand iFood, ticketing platform Sympla, and payments platform Zoop.
• Movile was the most active acquirer of startups in Brazil from 2010-2016, followed by Linx and B2W, according to LAVCA’s analysis of digital M&A transactions over that time frame.

> Angel Ventures invested US$1.3m in CitySense, a Chilean open platform to develop smart city solutions, through its Pacific Alliance Fund II.

> Angel Ventures also led a US$1.2m investment in Energryn, a Mexican startup using patented hybrid solar technology to democratize consumer access to affordable green energy:

México es el país que más consume gas LP por habitante en el mundo, con un promedio por familia de $400 pesos mensuales. Esta es una de las razones por las cuales México es el décimo país que más contamina nuestro planeta. Sin embargo, más de la mitad de las familias en México se bañan con agua fría pues carecen de un calentador de agua, y solo el 1% de las viviendas de nuestro país tienen calentador solar. Irónicamente, México es el tercer país con mayor radiación solar promedio en el mundo.

> Tributi, a Colombian tax automation platform, raised US$800k from Y Combinator, Foundation Capital, Graph Ventures and others. Foundation Capital previously invested in Rappi.

> #CRYPTO Magma Partners and ConsenSys Ventures made a US$600k investment in CryptoMKT, a Chilean cryptocurrency exchange for Ether, Bitcoin, and Stellar:

The traditional financial system is cost and time inefficient in must of the countries in the region. Our services allow people and companies to connect to cryptocurrencies and blockchain networks on a single platform thus creating an unique ecosystem for crypto services through Latin America and Europe. We also invest on developing solutions such as CryptoCompra, our payment solution which allows businesses to easily incorporate cryptocurrencies as an additional means of payment with significantly lower commissions.

> Criatec 2 made a R$2.5m investment in Paggcerto, a Brazilian payments platform.

> Family office Loyall participated in a ~R$2m seed investment in Brazilian P2P lender Nexoos.

> #HEALTHTECH Canary made an undisclosed seed investment in Go Good, a collaborative exercise app.

> 🛴Scooters are coming to Latin America: monashees+, Sinai Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, 500 Startups, Base10 Partners, and others made an undisclosed seed investment in Grin, an e-scooter company that just joined Y Combinator.

• Grin is starting in Mexico City, a hot destination for new last-mile launches -- Postmates, Ofo, Mobike, and Didi Chuxing all recently expanded into Mexico.
• And dockless bikes are coming to São Paulo very soon via Yellow, a monashees+-backed startup founded by former Caloi CEO Eduardo Musa.

> Angel investors in Rio Grande do Sul made a R$1m investment in Brazilian personal investment platform Mais Retorno.

> York Management led a US$2.3m investment in DataGran, an ad optimization startup in New York, with participation from unnamed international investors. DataGran raised an undisclosed investment from Wayra Colombia and Quake Capital in 2016. READ LAVCA’s interview with Founder & CEO Carlos Mendez.

> Cemex Ventures made an undisclosed investment in Concrete Sensors, a US-based real-time monitoring solution for concrete construction.

FUNDS

> Disruptech is a new Chilean VC fund targeting US$19m in capital commitments to invest in early-stage blockchain, AI, and IoT projects.

> Brazil’s BNDES selected DOMO Invest to manage its angel co-investment fund, which will invest up to R$100m over the next ten years across sectors, with initial tickets up to R$500k.

> Brazilian software company Senior launched a corporate venture investment vehicle, Senior Ventures, which seeks to invest in startups focused on fintech and human resources solutions that can leverage Senior's B2B and B2B2C client platforms.

IMPACT

> ANDE partnered with Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to launch the Gender Lens Impact Measurement Fund, which will support collaboration between SGB sector practitioners and researchers. The fund focus is LatAm. 

• ANDE will disburse US$150k across 4-6 projects, with the goal of building capacity among intermediaries, small/growing businesses, and researchers to measure impact with a gender lens. Details here.

> Endeavor launched Scale Up, an acceleration program for businesses revolutionizing education, health, and the environment, in partnership with Omidyar Network, Intel, and Dell. Apply here.

> Facebook partnered with social impact accelerator Artemisia to accelerate ten impact startups across a range of sectors at Facebook’s Estação Hack innovation center in São Paulo:

Parafuzo, Egalitê, Colab, EduSim, Canal Bloom, MEI Fácil, Blu 365, Cloud.ia, Vittude, Nindoo

> Chile and Brazil are leading the way with the creation of new B Corps, according to El Mercurio. One in four LatAm B Corps are Chilean.

> Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and Colombia’s High Commissioner’s Office for Post Conflict hosted an event to showcase four sustainable and bankable agricultural projects, as part of implementation of the first point of the Havana Peace Accord signed in November 2016 by the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Interested investors can contact Maria Albarracin of GGGI at <maria.albarracin@gggi.org>.

> Projeto Draft examines how the “environmental compensation” market is shaping up in Brazil, with a look at Biofílica, a MOV Investimentos portfolio company focused on commercializing environmental preservation.

> SVX Mexico is hiring a Financial Officer for impact investments. Apply here.

IPO

> Invermaster Ventures completed an Initial Public Offering of Costa Rican high-tech medical device and aesthetics company Establishment Labs Holdings on the NASDAQ (NASDAQ: ESTA).

M&A

> Bradesco acquired 30% of Brazilian coupon platform Cuponeria, a Naspers portfolio company.

> Lending Tree acquired Student Loan Hero, a bootstrapped student loan startup and Startup Chile alum, for US$60m.

NEWS

> Economia y Negocios: Industria chilena del VC suma nueve fondos por más de US$ 170 millones para financiar emprendimientos

> Baidu is ending its Brazil operations after losing a multi-year court case with Brazilian security company PSafe over unfair competitive practices.

> Facebook, Google, Twitter and Microsoft are taking a first step towards making user data portable between platforms with the Data Transfer Project (DTP). TechCrunch says:

Creating an industry standard for data portability could force companies to compete on utility instead of being protected by data lock-in that traps users because it’s tough to switch services.

> NPR Black Entrepreneurs Overcome Challenges In Brazil:

Accelerator Dendê Valley's 30 startups took part in a business plan and legal boot camp in April. Several are currently considering whether to carry out a certification process to become B Corps signaling their transparency and social impact. Their next step, securing investment, "remains a major challenge.”

> The Economist sizes up the battle for digital supremacy between US and Chinese tech giants:

The battle for emerging markets warrants closer attention—and not just because it has been below the radar. It has implications for the world’s tech giants. Over half of Google’s revenues come from outside America; eight of Facebook’s ten biggest territories by user numbers are emerging markets. Alibaba wants to raise the value of sales on its platform that are made abroad to 50% by 2025, implying stratospheric growth in places like India. Around half of the world’s population is online; that leaves an awful lot of new eyeballs to monetise.

> Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said he doesn't think Uber needs to be profitable before going public, and calls e-bikes/scooters a “huge opportunity.”

> General registration is NOW OPEN for the LAVCA Venture Investors Annual Meeting in New York on September 27, followed by an after-party hosted by Riverwood Capital at Tribeca 360. REGISTER HERE.

Agenda Preview 👀:

🎤 Scott Voss of HarbourVest Partners will interview Eric Hippeau, Managing Partner of New York blockbuster venture fund Lerer Hippeau, an investor in Birchbox, BuzzFeed, Casper, and Warby Parker.
Hippeau is a former Managing Partner at SoftBank Capital and CEO of The Huffington Post. He sits on the board of Buzzfeed and Marriott International.


🎤 #IMPACT A conversation with Roy Swan, Director of the Ford Foundation’s Mission Investments who will commit US$1b to impact over the next decade.

🎤 #CRYPTO Travis Scher, Head of Global Investments for Digital Currency Group, an investor in Coinbase, Blockstack, Brave and many others, will join CEOs of Bitso and Ripio to talk about the cutting edge of crypto coming out of Latin America.

🤝 [LAVCA Members:] David Pakman, a Partner at Venrock, co-creator of Apple Music Group and one of CBInsight’s Top 100 Venture Capitalists, will host a private Q&A for LAVCA Members on September 26.

 After unicorn exits in Nest and Dollar Shave Club, Pakman now leads Venrock’s partnership with CoinFund, a Brooklyn-based crypto investor group, to help entrepreneurs build businesses on the blockchain.

> Startupbootcamp Fintech Latin America announces ten startups in its second cohort:

Mexico: DevBlocks, Hurra, Self, Sin Conta, Tu Identidad
Chile: Plataforma LatAm
Costa Rica: FinTech Latin America
Ecuador: Luz Verde
Peru: Tasa Top
Uruguay: Qualia

> The Venture City’s accelerator program welcomes Miami startups Eventtia, an event platform with Colombian founders, and Daycation, a service offering hotel day passes.

> Puerto Rican accelerator Parallel18 announces 25 startups in its fifth cohort. LatAm List says Parallel18 is modeled after Startup Chile and offers US$40K equity-free grants, workspace, mentorship and courses, and is run by former Startup Chile Executive Director Sebastia Vidal.

> Impact-driven entrepreneurs can apply for US$100k from MIT Sloan’s Latin America Office and ITBA in Buenos Aires. Apply by August 10.

> Startups working with IoT, AI/big data, and advanced manufacturing are invited to apply for ChileGlobal Ventures’ Generación Impacto initiative for up to US$500k in funding. Apply by August 12.

> BoostLab, BTG Pactual’s accelerator in partnership with ACE, is accepting applications for it second cohort. Six startups made the cut for the inaugural cohort: Neurotech, Agronow, Clicksign, F(X), Liber Capital, and Zigpay. Apply by August 24.

> Save the date for Finnosummit Mexico City (Sept 12-13) and Miami (Oct 4-5). LAVCA members and network have access to a 20% discount using code LAVCA20.

INVESTOR POV

> Gonzalo Costa of NXTP Labs writes for TechCrunch: The tech investment wave has reached Latin America

> 📺 VIDEO - Gonzalo Costa of NXTP Labs and Francisco Jardim of SP Ventures talk about the agtech opportunity in LatAm at LAVCA's 2017 Venture Investors Annual Meeting:

Gonzalo Costa: When you think that Latin America today produces a little less than 25% of all the food consumption worldwide, and in the next 20 years that should at least double, it seems like a pretty huge market that needs disruption.

> Brazilian logistics company Tegma shares insights on the corporate accelerator they launched last year.

LatAm Fund Managers: Please share insights you think would be useful for the broader tech investor community by replying to this email (jruvolo@lavca.org).

The LatAm Venture Bulletin is the VC/tech newsletter and content platform of the Latin American Private Capital Association.

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