> The IFC led a US$7.1m Series B in Brazil’s Mandaê, a parcel logistics startup. Other participants include UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, Mercado Libre Fund, Tekton Ventures, FJ Labs, and existing investors Performa Investimentos, Qualcomm Ventures, monashees+, and Icon Holding Company. Mandaê previously raised US$2.5m in 2016.

> monashees+, Quona Capital, and Propel Venture Partners led a US$22m Series A in Brazilian fintech Neon Pagamentos, with participation from Omidyar Network, Tera, and Yellow Ventures.

> Fundo Aerotec (managed by Confrapar) and Criatec II announced an undisclosed investment in ALTAVE, a Brazilian aerospace startup designing cost-effective air vehicles to monitor ground conditions for a variety of industries, including oil and gas, agro-business and mining.

> Xpand Ventures, Diario Clarín’s corporate accelerator, invested US$200k in Argentinean startup Kilimo, a big data startup for crop irrigation management.

> HCS Capital Partners, a Miami-based PE firm, led a US$2m investment in We-Techs, a Chilean IoT monitoring platform for natural gas, water treatment, and other industries. We-Techs was accelerated at Wayra Chile.

> HCS Capital Partners also made a US$1m investment in Ceptinel, a Chilean fintech startup focused on regulatory tech.

> Alaya Capital Partners made an undisclosed investment in Rocketpin, a Chilean startup that provides point-of-sale auditing software. Rocketpin, which was accelerated at Wayra Chile, will use the funds to expand to Argentina.

FUNDS

> Redpoint eventures is targeting up to US$130m in capital commitments for RPeV 2, its second Brazil-focused venture-capital fund, according to an SEC filing.

> Guatemala's Invariantes closed its first fund with US$3.5m in commitments from a mix of high-net worth individuals and family offices in Central America and Mexico. To date, Invariantes Fund has made 16 investments in technology companies including Luminar (LiDAR sensors and software for autonomous vehicles), Fleet (shipping & logistics platform for exporters, importers and service providers), and Pillar Technologies (sensors and software for construction management companies).

> #PRIVATEEQUITY IDB Invest, the private sector institution of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), will invest up to MXN$450m (~US$24m) with Mexican VC Capital Indigo in a debt vehicle, the Indigo 2PD fund, to provide debt financing to mid-sized Mexican companies in Mexico with a proven track record and high growth potential.

• Capital Indigo says ticket size will be ~MXN$75m-250m.
• Rodrigo Gómez, Everardo Camacho and Bernardo Paasche will make investment decisions. 

IMPACT

> FCP Innovación SP, the corporate venture fund of Colombian utility EPM, led a US$2.6m investment in TriCiclos, a Chilean recycling and sustainability B Corp, with participation from FIS_Ameris, Australian fund Small Giants, and William McDonough. MOV Investimentos invested previously.

> Guatemalan solar startup Kingo added Leonardo DiCaprio to its list of investors, which includes FCP, ENGIE, FMO, Proparco, and H-Reff. Kingo manufactures and distributes pre-paid solar kits to over 50,000 low-income households in Latin America.

> Global impact accelerator Agora Partnerships is hiring a Managing Director to be based in Mexico City or Bogotá. Apply here.

> Village Capital is looking for early stage entrepreneurs in Latin America that are helping improve financial health to join its Fintech: LatAm 2018 Investment Readiness program. Apply here.

> FOMIN and ICE will invest up to US$1.6m in early-stage impact startups, accelerators, and incubators. Apply by May 18.

NEWS

> Reuters: Brazilian fintech startup Neon Pagamentos formed a partnership with Banco Votorantim, seeking to quickly normalize operations with its 600,000-client base after suffering a regulatory blow last week.

> Bloomberg: China Expands Brazil Frontier as Investment Grows During Crisis.

>  #PRIVACY Axios: Uber will begin running annual background checks on drivers again, add new emergency features in the app, and will no longer store passengers' exact pickup and drop-off locations in drivers' apps.

> AMEXCAP welcomes Liliana Reyes as its new Directora General de la Asociación, and Carlos Mendoza as Presidente del Consejo Directivo. Former AMEXCAP CEO Maria Ariza has joined new Mexican stock exchange BIVA as its CEO.

> Rosa Jiménez Cano, former Silicon Valley correspondent at EL PAíS, joins TheVentureCity as Chief of Ecosystem Relations.

> Polymath Ventures is looking for a co-founder/COO to join Colombian employment technology startup VincuVentas and lead their expansion to Mexico. Details here.

> Join LAVCA's Director of Research, Eduardo Roman, for a panel on VC and real estate technology at Proptech in Santiago on June 7. LAVCA members receive a 20% discount using code "LAVCA20". More information here.

> LAB4+, el Foro de Emprendimiento e Innovación de la Alianza del Pacífico, will host an investor meeting on June 12-13 in Medellin. Tech investors interested in meeting entrepreneurs from Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru should register by May 16 or email alianzapacifico@promexico.gob.mx for more information.

> Startupbootcamp Fintech Mexico City partnered with IGNIA to focus on financial inclusion for its second batch. Apply by June 3.

> Finnovista and Visa invite fintech entrepreneurs to apply for Visa’s Everywhere Initiative in LatAm and US$50k in prize money. Apply by June 15.

> Seedstars is hosting its Seedstars World pitch competition. Startups in Latin America that are 2+ years old, with more than US$500k in funding can apply here. First in-region competitions are in Mexico City (May 17) and Lima (May 31).

INVESTOR POV

> 📺WATCH: Fernando Lelo de Larrea of ALLVP, Michael Nicklas of Valor Capital, and Patrick Arippol of DGF Investimentos talk about the role that early stage investors play in supporting their invested startups during the 2017 LAVCA Venture Investors Annual Meeting.

> Ivana Ferreira of Nasdaq interviews Nicolas Szekasy of KaszeK Ventures about Latin America as a vibrant emerging tech hub:

“With [our next] funds, we will be investing more in Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia, and some of the other countries in the region.”

CRYPTO

> Genial Investimentos made an undisclosed investment in Brazilian crypto platform Finchain, which operates FlowBTC, a crypto-currency brokerage.

> Goldman Sachs will launch a bitcoin trading desk.

> Bloomberg: Walmart Is Getting Suppliers to Put Food on the Blockchain

THE FUTURE

> Vox: We’re underestimating the mind-warping potential of fake video: Due to advances in artificial intelligence, it’s now possible to convincingly map anyone’s face onto the body of another person in a video. Check out some examples.

> Gizmodo: Experts Sign Open Letter Slamming Europe’s Proposal to Recognize Robots as Legal Persons.

> Bill Gates, Intellectual Ventures, Airbus, and OneWeb founder Greg Wyler are backing a new space imaging startup called EarthNow to provide real-time satellite video anywhere on the planet.

> More on China’s tech-enabled surveillance state from New Republic: How Do You Control 1.4 Billion People?

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

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