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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

📢 Mercado Libre and KASZEK SPAC Raises USD287 in Nasdaq listing

📢 New Rounds for: Ripio, E-ctare, Buk, Trybe, Favo, Cargamos, Liv Up, Sempli, BomConsorcio, Sprout

📢 Chilean insurtech Betterfly acquires six startups; Nuvemshop acquires Mandaê

📢 CVC in Focus: LAVCA's Latin American Startup Directory includes analysis on corporate participation in VC Rounds for 2020-1H 2021

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.

REMINDER TO PARTICIPANTS: Mainstage and breakout session recordings are available until October 8 via the LAVCA attendee hub using your personal login details. Access to these recordings is exclusive to program registrants.

2021 LATIN AMERICAN STARTUP DIRECTORY: CVC IN FOCUS

LAVCA’s sixth annual Latin American Startup Directory profiles 299 startups that raised USD1m+ in venture funding in 2020 and 1H 2021 across 346 disclosed rounds, during a time of record venture investment in the region.

NEW IN 2021:

🔥 This year’s directory includes analysis on CVC participation in disclosed VC rounds over USD1m, which jumped from 16% in 2020 to 26% in 1H 2021 with active corporate investors including:

🔥 Established players: Globant Ventures, Mercado Libre, Microsoft, Naspers, Qualcomm Ventures and Wayra

🔥 New globally based players: Coinbase Ventures, Mastercard, Salesforce Ventures and Slack

🔥 New locally based players: Banco BV, Banco Santander, Bimbo Ventures, FEMSA Ventures, Globo Ventures, Itaú Unibanco, WIND Ventures and XP Investimentos

🔥 LAVCA members can download an accompanying LAVCA Data Pack for additional details including rounds with corporate participation.

DOWNLOAD the Directory and Data Pack. Use your login (new members can register here for access).

The Latin American Startup Directory is made possible with support from the Latin American Tech Growth Coalition and IDB Lab.

DEALS

> #SPAC MELI Kaszek Pioneer Corp (MEKA), a SPAC formed by Mercado Libre and KASZEK, raised USD287m in an IPO.

• MEKA will target 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.

> Origin, a US-based financial advisor platform for employees of companies with operations in the US and Brazil, raised a USD57m Series B led by 01A, the VC fund of Dick Costolo and Adam Bain, General Catalyst and Lachy Groom, with follow-on from Founders Fund, Felicis Ventures and Abstract Ventures, at a reported USD400m valuation.

• Origin raised a USD12m Series A led by Felicis Ventures in September 2020.
• Origin was co-founded by João de Paula of e-commerce platform Glio, the first Latin America-based startup to be admitted to YC.

> #CRYPTO Digital Currency Group (DCG) led a USD50m Series B for Ripio, an Argentine crypto trading platform with participation from Marcos Galperin (Mercado Libre), Martin Migoya (Globant) and Tim Draper (DFJ).

• DCG led a USD2m Series A in 2017; Pantera Capital led a USD600k seed round in 2014; NXTP invested in 2013.
• Ripio’s round follows other prominent rounds in crypto startups including Bitso’s USD250m Series C led by Tiger Global and Coatue in May, and Mercado Bitcoin’s USD200m round led by SoftBank in July.
  

> #CVC Alfa Collab, the CVC arm of Brazilian insurance holding Conglomerado Alfa, announced an investment of up to ~USD120m over three years in E-ctare, a credit platform and digital wallet for rural producers in Brazil.

> #HRTECH Greenoaks and SoftBank led a USD50m Series A for Buk, a Chilean employee workflow and payroll management platform at a reported USD417m valuation.

• This round makes Buk the third most valuable Chilean startup after Cornershop and NotCo, according to TechCrunch.

> #EDTECH Base Partners and Untitled led a USD27m round for Trybe, a Brazilian online coding school, with participation from Endeavor Scale Up Ventures and follow-on from GFC.

• Atlantico led a ~USD8.4m round in February 2020.

> Tiger Global led a USD26.5m Series A for Favo, a Brazil- and Peru-based grocery fulfillment platform leveraging local sales reps to market products for last-mile distribution, with participation from GFC, Elevar Equity, FJ Labs, H2O and angels Kevin Efrusy (Accel) and David Velez (Nubank).

• Elevar Equity and GFC led a ~USD7m round in January.

 

> #LOGISTICS #CVC Cargamos, a Mexican e-commerce and last-mile delivery platform, raised a USD11m seed round from Mountain Nazca, Kayyak Ventures, FEMSA Ventures, and angels Carlos Garcia (Kavak), Ricardo Weder (Jüsto) and Guilherme Bonifacio (Merce do Bairro).

• Cargamos raised USD4m from FEMSA Ventures and Mountain Nazca in February.
• Cargamos’ clients include Liverpool, Mexico’s largest chain of department stores.
• CEO Ivan Ariza to TechCrunch: “The problem in Mexico is the orchestration of optimization… networks are not connected, and have really poor technology. It is the lack of logistics here that makes it very expensive and difficult for people of low income [to access e-commerce services].”
  

 

> #FOODTECH #CVC Globo Ventures led a ~USD10m Series D+ for Liv Up, a Brazilian subscription-based meal kit delivery service.

• Liv Up raised ~USD18m from KASZEK, ThornTree Capital, Spectra and Endeavor Catalyst in 2019.

> Sempli, a Colombian lending platform for SMEs, raised USD10m from IDB Lab, Oikocredit, Incofin, Enabling Capital and Symbiotics.

• Oikocredit and Incofin led a USD8m Series A in 2019; Oikocredit and IDB Lab invested USD5.7m in 2018.

> Crescera Capital made a ~USD6m follow-on in BomConsorcio, a Brazilian marketplace enabling companies to execute secondary sales on their consortium quotas.

• Crescera invested ~USD500k in April 2019, and ~USD700k in May 2020.
• BomConsorcio’s clients include Bradesco a Caixa, Banco do Brasil and Itaú.

> YC and NY-based retail investment platform Public.com led a USD5.7m seed round for Sprout, a retail investment platform for Brazilian citizens to invest in the US stock market, with participation from Sound Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, Geometry Ventures, HOF Capital, Quiet Ventures, First Check Ventures, Investo and The Marathon Lab.

• Angels participating in the round included Ricardo Weder (Jüsto), Brian Requarth (Latitud), Zach Sims (CodeAcademy), Parker Treacy (Cobli) and Vinicius Correa, Manoela Mitchell and Thiago Torres (Pipo Saúde).

> #CVC Kinea Ventures, the CVC arm of Itaú, led a ~USD5.4m Series A for Paketá, a Brazilian credit consignment platform, with follow-on from Shift Capital.

• Shift Capital led a ~USD1.8m seed round in December 2020.
• This is Kinea Venture’s second known investment, after investing in Brazilian receivables financing platform Monkey Exchange in February.
  

> monashees and Valor Capital Group led a ~USD4.6m pre-seed round for BHub, a Brazilian accounting and financial management platform for SMEs, with participation from QED Investors, Clocktower, Addition, Picus Capital, Norte Ventures, Latitud and Equitas VC.

> #AGTECH Kayyak Ventures led a USD4m Series A for AgroUrbana, a Chilean agtech focused on vertical agriculture, with participation from CLIN Fund and Fundación Chile.

• CLIN Fund led a ~USD1m round in June 2020.

 

> #FOODTECH Argentine company builder Grid Exponential led a USD3m round for Tomorrow Foods, an Argentine plant-based proteins manufacturer.

> Honey Island Capital and Quartz invested ~USD2.6m in Tecnofit, a Brazilian finance and membership management platform for fitness studios.

• Honey Island Capital is a seed investment firm run by EBANX founders Alphonse Voigt, Joao Del Valle and Wagner Ruiz.

> FunderClub and Clocktower led a USD2m seed round for Toku, a Chilean software platform enabling automated recurring payments for SMEs.

• Toku raised USD50k from Platanus Ventures earlier this year.

> Canary led a ~USD1.6m seed round for Gank, a Brazilian community-based trading platform for retail investors, with participation from GFC.

> Wayra invested in hackU, a Colombian education content platform delivered through WhatsApp, Bankiush, a Mexican credit score platform for freelancers and WherEx, a Chilean RFP platform for sourcing industrial materials and services.

• WherEx raised a USD7m Series A led by Kayyak Ventures in August.

> Draper Cyngus invested USD1m in EGG, an Argentine platform for decentralized collaboration.

• Draper Cygnu’s investment was led by Partner Valentina Terranova.

> #EDTECH Juros Baixos, a Brazilian financial education platform for company employees, raised ~USD600k through equity crowdfunding platform CapTable.

> #INSURTECH Invisto invested ~USD600k in Pulses, a Brazilian employee engagement platform.

> KPTL invested ~USD400k in Contraktor, a Brazilian digital contract management platform.

• Contraktor’s clients include Unimed and Branco do Brasil.

> Motorista PX, a Brazilian freight forwarder platform for independent drivers, raised ~USD400k from ACE Startups, GR8 Ventures, Randon Ventures and BRAngels.

> Lighthouse Investimentos invested ~USD300k in Erural, a Brazilian cattle and beef auction marketplace.

> #LOGISTICS DOMO Invest led a ~USD240k round for Infleet, a Brazilian fleet operations management platform for logistic companies, with participation from Bossanova Investimentos and Anjos do Brasil.

> Darwin Startups invested ~USD60k in Debito Direto, a Brazilian billing management platform for SMEs.

> #CLEANTECH #ANGEL GVAngels led a ~USD400k round for Suflex, a Brazilian waste management platform for bars and restaurants.

> #CLEANTECH Barn Investments led a seed round for Circular Brain, a Brazilian compliance and recycling solution platform for electronic manufacturers and recyclers, with participation from BRAngels.

> GR8 Ventures led a seed round for LeverPro, a Brazilian financial planning and analysis (FP&A) platform for SMEs.

> Infosel, a Mexican white label financial information platform for retail trading, raised an undisclosed seed round. Former JP Morgan Casa de Bolsa CEO Enrique Camacho will head Infosel’s Business Development team.

• Co-CEO Edgar Pérez: “Mexico and LatAm more broadly are on the cusp of seeing significant growth in the self-directed investing and trading space as information and digital access become more ubiquitous.”

FUNDS

> Chicago-based growth equity firm G Squared held a USD1.2b final close for its fifth flagship fund G Squared V. The fund will invest in fintech, consumer internet, mobility and SaaS startups.

• G Squared has yet to announce investments in the region but is opening also an office in Miami to focus on Latin America.

 

> Aggir Ventures launched a ~USD20m fund to invest in early stage healthtech startups in Brazil. Aggir is led by Nadia Armelin (Dow Chemical); Romeu Cortes Domingues (Dasa) and Marcelo Saad (Laplace Finanças) serve in its investment committee.

STARTUPS

> #M&A Betterfly, a Chilean insurtech providing life insurance for employees of SMEs and incentivizing policyholder’s wellbeing with subsidized coverage, acquired six fintech and hrtech startups: Numi, Kunder, Nesto, Heypay!, Racional and Xerpay.

• Betterfly partnered with Brazilian insurance company Icatu to launch operations in Brazil in September and raised a USD60m Series B in July.

> #M&A Nuvemshop, an Argentine e-commerce platform with operations in Brazil and Mexico, acquired Mandaê, a Brazilian e-commerce logistics platform for SMEs.

• IFC led a USD7.1m Series B in Mandae in 2018. Other investors in Mandae include PS Strategic Enterprise Fund, Mercado Libre Fund, Tekton Ventures, FJ Labs, Performa Investimentos, Qualcomm Ventures, monashees and Icon Holding Company.

> #M&A Asaas, a Brazilian financial management platform for microentrepreneurs, acquired Code Money, a Brazilian payment infrastructure platform for smartphones.

• Asaas raised ~USD7.4m from Bradesco’s Inovabra Ventures and Parallas Ventures in October 2020.

> Mexican grocery delivery platform Jüsto partnered with Rappi to enable consumers to order groceries through the Rappi app across four cities in the country.

> #INSURTECH LABS News features the vision of Mexican insurtechs Clupp, Zenda.la and Sofia for developing a low-budget and user-friendly approach to attract the uninsured in Mexico.

> #FOODTECH Chilean foodtech NotCo partnered with Starbucks in the Chile to offer lactose-free milk, NotMilk, and sandwiches made with NotMeat Molida.

NEWS

> #POLICY Chile’s Fintech Law is about to get approved.

• The bill includes a regulatory framework for open banking and expands the oversight responsibilities of the Central Bank.
• The bill still needs to go through a second vote in the Chilean Senate.

> #5G Latin America telecoms América Móvil and Liberty Latin America announced the combination of their Chilean operations in a joint venture to strengthen their 5G mobile delivery service.

• VTR, a provider of high-speed consumer internet products, and Claro Chile, a Chilean telecom provider, will merge as part of the agreement.

> Rest of Word: YouTube influencers are now launching their own cell phone services in Mexico.

• Influencer Luisito Comunica on PilloFon, his telecom company formed as a joint venture with telecom provider Diri Movil: “This thing [5G] will revolutionize the planet and PilloFon will be the first provider to offer 5G coverage in Mexico. Hey: sounds cool! Am I posting this as self-promoting clickbait? Of course I am, but it’s true!”
• Diri Movil CEO Alejandro Corsi: “We approached Luisito Comunica just over a year ago; he was the most obvious, most logical personality with whom to build a telecom company because of his reach and because he has a clear voice and generates plenty of trust and empathy.”

> New Story, a San Francisco-based housing nonprofit, Échale, a Mexican housing production company and Icon, a Texas-based construction technology company, partnered to build 500 houses in rural Mexico using a 11-foot-tall 3D printer.

> #HEALTHTECH #C19 The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) selected two biomedical centers in Argentina and Brazil as regional hubs to develop mRNA-based C19 vaccines for distribution in Latin America.

• Brazilian biomedical lab Bio-Manguinhos Institute of Technology on Immunobiologicals and Argentine biopharma Sinergium Biotech will take the lead.

> #CRYPTO CoinDesk reviews the current state of crypto investing in Latin America: “The flood of fresh money is also sparking mergers and acquisitions.”

INVESTORS

> SVB launched an office in Miami. The office’s focus on early stage startups will be led by Latam & Miami Director Julia Figueiredo.

> Julio Vasconcellos of Atlantico reviewed the second edition of the fund’s Latin American Digital Transformation Report.

• “...We dedicate 200 slides of data-rich analysis, primary research, private company data and case studies to tell the story of this “second wave” of change we are witnessing. Ranging from the rapid adoption of sustainable technologies to the welcoming of a new local creator economy, we detail the surprising changes the pandemic has brought to consumer preferences, workplace dynamics, business models and the geopolitical influence on the fast-changing tech sector.”

> Jose Ortiz of Mercado Libre shared his view on the potential for Argentine tech talent to attract VC financing.

> LABS News interviewed former Redpoint eventures Partner Rodrigo Baer on joining SoftBank as a Partner of its USD300m early stage vehicle.

• Baer on creating an operator network to support portfolio founders: “...the idea is not to do the work for the startups. It’s to help them figure out how to do it faster. It’s more of an advisory group of consultants than actually doing all the work. Our belief is that the companies still need to build their own salesforce, marketing and operations. There are funds willing to do it for their startups. We are not. Our two goals are to shorten the learning cycle and to make sure they build their companies with the fewest mistakes possible and faster.”

> Angel Ventures Mexico acquired Coonector, a Mexican corporate consulting agency to strengthen its startup pipeline and launch an education platform for CVCs in Latin America.

• Connector’s clients include AB InBev, Essity, Claro Colombia and CompuSoluciones.

GLOBAL TECH

SIGN UP for GPCA’s Global 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.

VIRTUAL TRAINING: INCREASING PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN PRIVATE CAPITAL IN LATIN AMERICA

> LAVCA, in collaboration with GPCA, is pleased to announce Increasing Participation of Women in Private Capital in Latin America, the third virtual training in the Inside Private Capital series, a groundbreaking education training platform for GP and LP members.

The program will take place on October 14,11:00am - 2:00pm ET. LAVCA members are invited to participate at the discounted rate.

🔥 Session 1: First-Hand Insights from Industry Veterans. Practitioner Faculty: Kate Mitchell, Partner, Scale Venture Partners, and Alisa A Wood, Partner, KKR.

🔥 Session 2: Leadership's Role in Attracting and Retaining Female Talent. Practitioner Faculty: Farah Khan, Partner, L Catterton, Johanna G. Posada, Founder & Managing Partner, Elevar Equity, Mauricio Salgar, Managing Director, Advent International.

🔥 Session 3: Overcoming Unconscious Bias at the Organizational Level. Practitioner Faculty: Andrea de la Piedra, CEO & Co-Founder, Aequales.

REGISTER here. For questions, contact education@lavca.org.

PEOPLE & PROGRAMS

> #TODAY Wayra will host today a DemoDay for Smart Challenge, a program designed to leverage technology to jumpstart tourism in Camino de los Jesuitas, a region encompassing Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Access here.

> Congratulations to Henry, Skyloom, KeepSmiling and Calm for being selected to participate in Endeavor Argentina’s fifth edition of Endeavor ScaleUp.

> Dux Capital appointed Susana Espinosa de los Reyes as Partner for DXII Fund, the firm’s new venture fund focused on Latino-founded startups.

• Susana is part of LAVCA’s Emerging Women Investors in Latin American Tech.

> NXTP is looking for an Investment Analyst. Interested candidates based in Mexico City, São Paulo or Buenos Aires are welcome to apply.

> Wayra Brasil is looking for a Head of Open Innovation to lead its portfolio management operations.

> Wayra Hispam partnered with Peruvian agriculture company Danper to launch DanperChallenge, a startup competition to find solutions for the agribusiness space in Peru. Founders are welcome to apply.

• Wayra Hispam is also looking for an Open Innovation & Partnerships Manager based in Colombia. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.

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.