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TLDR

📢 NEW: LAVCA’s Sneak Peek of 2021 Industry Data & Analysis

📢 NEW: LAVCA + EMPEA Launch Structuring For Exit: New Approaches for Private Capital in Latin America

📢 Deals: New Rounds for Loggi, RecargaPay, UOL Edtech, Stori, Elenas

📢 Exits: NXTP and Draper Cygnus exit Auth0 to Okta; Redpoint eventures, Riverwood Capital, Astella Investimentos, DGF Investimentos, TPG Growth and Endeavor Catalyst exit RD Station to TOTVS

📢 Funds: DOMO Invest Reaches BRL105m First Close; SP Ventures Reaches BRL160m Third Close; Volpe Capital Reaches USD80m First Close

SNEAK PEEK: LAVCA 2021 INDUSTRY DATA & ANALYSIS

LAVCA looks forward to sharing its 2021 Industry Data & Analysis in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we are pleased to provide a sneak peek of key takeaways:

Exits: It was a record year with USD11.09b divested across 106 exits, largely driven by public markets activity mostly on the Brazilian stock exchange. Both PE and VC backed companies held major IPOs in 2020, and there is a slate of private capital backed companies that will IPO in 2021, so this trend will likely continue this year.

Investments: 2020 was a record year for investments overall, with USD16.33b invested across 653 deals.

• Private Equity: PE deals during the pandemic concentrated their investments on software, business/professional services and payments, and took an increased role in providing growth equity financing to companies in the region.
• Private Credit: LAVCA began tracking Private Credit in 2020 to reflect the increased importance of this asset class in the region. In 2020, Private Credit was the largest private capital asset class in terms of investment, with two landmark transactions; Oaktree Capital’s USD2.45b of LATAM Airlines and Apollo’s USD1b of Aeromexico.
• Venture Capital: Investment in 2020 will be the second best year on record, following a blockbuster 2019. The acceleration of digitalization trends due to the pandemic sustained fund manager interest in Latin American startups. While SoftBank was less active as it waited for its portfolio to mature after deploying billions, other global investors stepped in on major growth rounds.
• Infrastructure: Latin America’s rapid digital transformation has created opportunities for GPs investing in the data infrastructure sector. GPs are supporting the deployment of wireless infrastructure technologies through investments in fiber optic networks, internet service providers, telecommunications towers and data centers.

Fundraising: Fundraising demonstrated surprising resiliency considering the pandemic and difficult macroeconomic conditions with just under USD7b raised across 51 fund closings for LATAM dedicated funds.

Look out for the full report in the coming weeks in this newsletter.

EMPEA | LAVCA STRUCTURING FOR EXIT REPORT

The EMPEA | LAVCA Structuring for Exit report, created with support from Adobe Capital and IDB Lab, is a deep dive analysis of innovative financing approaches used by investors in Latin America and other global markets to generate liquidity in challenging exit environments.

This practical tool for investors and entrepreneurs includes a taxonomy of financing approaches across the debt-to-equity spectrum, as well as resource tables of advantages, risks and typical company profiles for each instrument.

Six in-depth case studies from Latin America, India and the Caucasus detail deal sourcing, deal terms, investment management and exit and returns. A special section summarizes lessons learned and best practices.

Grounded in LAVCA data and interviews with 30 active investors, the report outlines how both traditional commercial and impact investors have utilized deal structuring mechanisms to expand the range of investible opportunities, meet impact goals, achieve downside protection and realize stellar returns.

This publication is made possible with support from Adobe Capital and IDB Lab.

SAVE THE DATE for upcoming virtual case study discussions from the report at FLII @ Home on 24-28 May 2021. More details to come.

DOWNLOAD the full report here.

DEALS

> #LOGISTICS CapSur Capital led a ~USD205m round for Brazil-based delivery logistics unicorn Loggi, with follow-on from monashees, SoftBank, GGV, Microsoft and Sunley House at a reported USD2b valuation.

• SoftBank led a USD150m round in 2019 at a reported USD1b valuation, and a USD111m round in 2018; KaszeK Ventures, Iporanga Investimentos, Qualcomm Ventures and Dragoneer Investment Group invested previously.
• Loggi plans to open seven additional logistics centers across Brazil.
• READ LAVCA’s interview with Co-Founder and CEO Fabien Mendez.
• VIEW LAVCA’s Latin American unicorn leaderboard.

> Miami-based IDC Ventures and Madrid-based Fuel Venture Capital led a USD70m Series C for RecargaPay, a Brazilian mobile payments platform, with participation from ATW Partners, Lun Partners and Experian Ventures.

• TheVentureCity, the IFC and Ventech led a USD22m round in 2018.

> #EDTECH SoftBank Latin America made an undisclosed investment in UOL Edtech, a Brazilian B2B edtech developing MBA and post-graduate courses for higher education institutions and corporate training programs.

> Lightspeed Ventures led a USD32.5m Series B for Stori, a Mexican credit card issuer, with follow-on from Vision Plus Capital, BAI Capital and Source Code Capital.

• Bertelsmann Investments and Source Code Capital led a USD10m Series A in 2020.
• This is Lightspeed’s second known investment in the region after Dolado.
  

> #CVC Banco BV invested BRL100m in Trademaster, a Brazilian credit platform for small retailers.

> FinTech Collective led a USD14m Series A for minu, a Mexican payroll platform providing Mexican employees access to their earned wages, with participation from VEF, XYZ Ventures, FJ Labs, Tom Gonser (DocuSign) and Mike Dinsdale (Gusto), and follow-on from QED Investors, Next Billion Ventures and Village Global.

• The round included USD2.5m in debt financing from Banco Sabadell Mexico.
• minu’s first funding was a USD6.5m round in 2019.
• minu’s clients include Rappi and Telefónica.
  

> Leo Capital, FJ Labs, alpha4 Ventures and Meesho invested USD6m in Elenas, a Colombian e-commerce platform connecting wholesalers with independent retailers.

• alpha4 Ventures, Amador Holdings, Polymath Ventures and Meesho invested USD2m in 2020.
• Elenas will continue to expand in Colombia, with plans to launch in Mexico and Peru next.

> Angel Ventures and Mountain Nazca led a USD4.2m Series A for Colektia, a Chile-based enterprise debt collection platform, with follow-on from Kayak Ventures, Devlabs and Fen Ventures.

> Canary led a USD1.5m round for Flourish, a US-based savings rewards platform with customers in the US, Bolivia and Brazil, with participation from Xochi Ventures, First Check Ventures, Noveus VC, GVAngels and angels Brian Requarth (Latitud), Rodrigo Xavier (Bank of America) and Beth Stelluto (Charles Schwab).

• Flourish develops gamified solutions to help fintechs and traditional banks incentivize their end consumers to increase their savings.

> Astella Investimentos invested BRL7m in Sled (formerly Troco Simples), a Brazilian end-to-end payments and financial management platform connecting retailers, banks and consumers.

> #HEALTHTECH Positive Ventures invested BRL6.5m in Neomed, a Brazilian electrocardiogram and clinical lab reports management platform, with participation from IKJ Capital, Provence Capital and Ricardo Villela (Itaú).

> Singular Partners invested BRL5m in Washout Lavanderia, a Brazilian marketplace for on-demand laundry services.

> #AGTECH #CROWDFUNDING Pink Farms, a Brazilian vertical farming platform, raised BRL4.8m through crowdfunding platform SMU Investimentos.

• SP Ventures and Capital Lab Invested BRL2m in 2019.
• Pink Farms' pilot farm is in São Paulo.
  

> #PROPTECH Neivor, a Colombian rental management platform, raised USD600k from Magma Partners, Brian Requarth (Latitud), Miguel McAllister (Merqueo) and Daniel Bilbao (Truora).

> #CVC Randon Ventures, the CVC arm of Brazilian railroad equipment manufacturer Empresas Randon, invested BRL2.5m in Abbiamo, a Brazilian route optimization platform for last-mile delivery.

> #CROWDFUNDING #AGTECH SuperOpa, a Brazilian produce marketplace connecting wholesalers with soon-to-expire products with consumers, raised BRL2.3m through crowdfunding platform SMU Investimentos.

> #INDUSTRIALTECH Tractian, a Brazilian industrial equipment maintenance management platform, raised BRL2m from Y Combinator, Norte Ventures and angels Michael Lehmann (Volkswagen), Parker Treacy (Cobli) and Eduardo Nadelman (Stone).

• Tractian won MAYA Capital’s 2020 Pitch Competition.

> #EDTECH #ANGEL Awari, a Brazilian edtech offering data science, product and design courses, raised BRL2m from undisclosed angel investors.

> #HEALTHTECH Brazil-based user research company Taqtile invested BRL1.1m in Vigilantes do Sono, a Brazilian sleep monitoring and enhancement mobile application.

> #CLEANTECH ATMOSPHERE, a Brazilian in-home electricity management system, raised BRL500k from Cotidiano Aceleradora and others.

> #HEALTHTECH #ANGEL Sou Sports App, a Brazilian fitness and nutrition platform, raised BRL300k from undisclosed investors.

> #SPACETECH #ANGEL Anjos do Brasil invested BRL750k in Quiron, a Brazilian data analytics platform leveraging satellite data for forest threat management and fire prediction.

> #AGTECH KPTL made an undisclosed investment in Agrisolus, a Brazilian poultry management platform.

> Brazilian e-commerce platform olist made an undisclosed investment in nocnoc, a Brazilian e-commerce platform for the sale of foreign products in Latin American marketplaces.

• READ LAVCA’s interview with olist Founder and CEO Tiago Dalvi.

> Cora, a Brazilian fintech lending platform for SMEs, raised an undisclosed round from its employees.

• Employees were able to participate in the round at the same terms and price agreed during the USD10m round led by KaszeK Ventures in 2019.

> Electronic payment platform 3PTEC Brasil made an undisclosed investment in Rede Celer, a Brazilian white label payment integration for fintechs.

EXITS / M&A

> #EXIT NXTP and Draper Cygnus exited Auth0, an identity verification solution founded by Argentines Eugenio Pace and Matias Woloski, through a USD6.5b all-stock sale to Okta, a San Francisco-based identity authentication platform.

• Salesforce Ventures led a USD120m Series F in 2020 at a reported USD1.9b valuation; Sapphire Ventures led a USD103m Series E in 2019.
• Diego González Bravo of Draper Cygnus: “This deal revalidates the region as a permanent source of world-changing entrepreneurs and startups. One important lesson is to build a balanced and diverse team, combining world class tech and business skills focused in a global solution and an early connection with leading investors in the field."
• Alexander Busse of NXTP: “I believe Auth0 is hugely inspirational for many LatAm founders building SaaS businesses. [This transaction] shows that LatAm talent can compete globally, and shows a series of lessons on how to succeed in developed markets: Start selling in your target market early on. Hire talent that has extensive experience in your target market to help with sales, fundraising and recruiting. And have a timely and unique product offering capable of attracting great investors in developed markets. There is no better way to build investor conviction than to show solid realized returns. On the GP side, it also has a positive impact, as international funds pay closer attention to LatAm investment opportunities — nobody likes to miss out on a big win.”

> #EXIT Redpoint eventures, Riverwood Capital, Astella Investimentos, DGF Investimentos, TPG Growth and Endeavor Catalyst exited RD Station (formerly Resultados Digitais), a Brazilian marketing automation platform for small businesses in Latin America, through a sale to TOTVS, a Brazilian enterprise software solutions platform, at a reported BRL1.8b valuation.

• Riverwood Capital led a USD50m Series D in 2019; TPG led a USD19m round in 2016; Redpoint eventures led a ~USD3.8m Series B in 2015.
• Congrats to Eric Santos and the RD team.

> #EXIT SP Ventures exited Brain Ag, a Brazilian data analysis platform for credit origination in the agriculture industry, through a sale to an undisclosed acquiror.

• This is SP Ventures’ first exit, resulting in a 90% annualized return.

> #M&A #CRYPTO Mexico-based crypto exchange Bitso acquired Quedex, a Gibraltar-based crypto derivatives trading platform.

• Bitso CEO Daniel Vogel: “As the industry grows and trading volumes increase, one of the big challenges is building really high-performance, low-latency trading engines. The idea is to replace our entire trading infrastructure with Quedex’s trading infrastructure.”
• Bitso raised a USD62m Series B in 2020 in the largest known blockchain-related VC investment in Latin America, according to LAVCA Data.
  

> #M&A Brazilian fintech platforms Geru and Rebel merged to provide unsecured personal credit solutions.

• monashees, XP Investimentos, Point Break Capital and family office J. Malucelli invested USD4m in 2018 and will remain shareholders of the combined entity.

FUNDS

> Volpe Capital reached a USD80m first close with commitments from SoftBank, BTG Pactual and Banco Inter affiliates. The fund has a USD150m target.

• Volpe Capital was founded by former SoftBank Partner Andre Maciel and former Warburg Pincus Principal Gregory Reider.
• Volpe Capital also announced an undisclosed investment in Brazilian edtech UOL Edtech as the fund’s inaugural investment.

> SP Ventures reached a BRL160m third close for AgVentures II, with a commitment from the IFC. The fund has a BRL350m target.

• SP Ventures reached a BRL130m second close in January, and a BRL90m first close in 2020.
• Investors in SP Ventures include French animal nutrition company Adisseo, US phosphate mining company Mosaic, Syngenta Ventures and BASF Venture Capital.

> DOMO Invest reached a BRL105m first close for its fourth fund, with commitments from Caixa Seguridade, BB Seguridade and the pension funds of Syngenta, Novartis and Roche.

• DOMO Invest will assess new D2C investment opportunities through an automated data analytics platform that has supported the review of 4k+ companies per year.

> Bancoldex made a USD4m commitment to Cometa’s Cometa III fund.

• Cometa has invested in 26 companies as part of its first two vehicles.

> GRIDS Capital reached a USD113m close for its second vehicle, focused on deep tech investments in the US and Israel. The fund has a USD120m target.

• GRIDS Capital was founded by former Pactual CRO Guy Perelmuter and operates through a hybrid strategy including fund of fund and direct investments in companies in the US and Israel.

> Brian Requarth, former Founder of proptech VivaReal which merged with Grupo ZAP in 2017, launched Latitud, a rolling fund targeting Latin American companies in a pre-seed stage with USD25-250k checks.

STARTUPS

> Mariana Castillo of Ben&Frank shares the story behind the foundation of her company and her experience navigating the C19 crisis during 2020.

> Brazilian fintech SWAP launched Multiflex, its corporate benefits white label platform for fintechs.

• SWAP raised an undisclosed round from Global Founders Capital, ONEVC, and Flourish Ventures in 2020.

> Cynthia Villar of MiBolsillo, Mariana Boot of Akredito, Anabel Perez of NovoPayment and Victoria Blanco of Ábaco share their views on the opportunity for women-led fintech startups in Latin America.

• MiBolsillo, Akredito, NovoPayment and Abaco were all finalists of WeXchange’s 2020 STEMpreneurs Competition.

> Daniel Bilbao of Truora shares his views on the key women founders shaping the tech ecosystem in Colombia.

• Featured founders: Brynne McNulty (Habi), Caterine Castillo and Paola Fuertes (Neivor), Marta Forero (UBits), Daniela Izquierdo (Foodology), Maite Muñíz-Tellería (Truora) and María Echeverri (Muni).

> Antti Kulppi of Chilean proptech ComunidadFeliz shares his experience raising the company’s USD2m Series A and expansion plans in conversation with Germán Fondevila of Clout Capital.

> Congratulations to Chilean foodtech NotCo and Colombian agtech Frubana for their inclusion in Fast Company’s list of The World’s Most Innovative Companies 2021.

> Check out LAVCA’s 2020 directory of 126 Latin American startups with at least USD1m in VC funding, verified by LAVCA (as of end-2019), our Unicorn Leaderboard, and our Inaugural Survey of Latin American Startups.

🆕 GLOBAL TECH NEWSLETTER

> SIGN UP for our bi-weekly newsletter covering cross-border tech transactions and innovations with cross-border applications in a rapidly changing world. Geographies include Latin America, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other emerging VC markets. 

VIEW the archive of previous editions and sign up here.

NEWS

> Telefónica and CDPQ launched FiBrasil, an independent optical fiber network to operate in mid-sized cities outside of Sao Paulo.

• CDPQ has agreed to invest up to BRL1.8b in the joint venture. CDPQ and Telefónica Group will each hold 50% in FiBrasil.

> Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court launched an inquiry into the sale of protected areas of the Amazon through Facebook Marketplace, including indigenous territories and national forests.

> #5G Nokia partnered with Ecuador’s Corporación Nacional de Telecomunicaciones to deploy the first 5G network in Ecuador.

> Alfredo Sestini Nieto of Zoom Brazil shares his view on the importance of Latin America as an expansion market.

• Zoom installed a data center in Brazil at the beginning of C19 that serves the entire region.

> #SPACETECH Aamaziona-1, the first Brazilian-made satellite monitoring deforestation and agricultural activity in the Amazon, was successfully launched from India last week.

> VICE: Brazil’s Biggest Metro Could Get Facial Recognition Cameras That Reinforce Racist Policing:

• “Facial recognition cameras commit minimal errors in recognizing the faces of white men, but they misidentified black women up to nearly 35% of the time, according to a recent study.”

> #5G Foreign Policy: Latin American Governments Are Caught in the Middle of the U.S.-China Tech War.

• “After being subject to diplomatic pressure from both the United States and China over the past few years, numerous Latin American governments will have to finally decide whether to allow Huawei to provide equipment for the construction of their 5G cellular networks. This pits the Chinese firm, which has a long-standing presence in Latin America’s main markets, directly against U.S.-backed competitors—and there will be no pleasing both sides.”

> The World Bank: COVID-19 accelerates technology adoption and deepens inequality among workers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

• "As in the rest of the world, only a segment of the workforce was able to telework and work remotely: generally higher income, more educated workers. According to a new survey by the IDB and Cornell University, members of a poor household were three times as likely to have lost their job than members of wealthier households.”

> Rest of World reviews the role of social media platforms in Mexican political campaigns in The influencer politicians are coming.

> WEF: Women’s rights must be central to the global recovery.

INVESTORS

> Susana García-Robles of LAVCA shares her journey through IDB Lab and her current role in promoting women empowerment as a Senior Partner at Capria Ventures.

• “No tener mujeres en el partnership, no tener mujeres en el comité de inversión y en las empresas en donde inviertes, lo que te puede llevar es a tener empresas buenas pero no están validadas por quienes hacen la decisión de compra.”

> Gonzalo Costa of NXTP shares his advice for seed stage startups looking to raise a Series A.

• “…what is our biggest fear when we fret that a seed valuation is too high? That when the time comes — as it must — for that startup to go out and raise a Series A, the numbers won’t add up.”

> Indicator Capital is the second known VC fund in Latin America to register as a B-Corp, after NXTP in 2018.

> Greg Mitchell of Angel Ventures shares his view on the opportunity in Latin America in Forget Commodities – is Tech the Best Investment in Latin America?

> Juan Salvidar of Rise Capital reviews the opportunity for women-led startups in Mexico in Mujeres apostando todo.

PEOPLE & PROGRAMS

> Join EMPEA and Wharton for Using Early-Stage Financing to Fuel Diversity in Global Startup on March 31 at 11:00am EDT. The virtual program will discuss how early-stage investors are leveraging their investments to drive diversity in startups across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

• This webcast will feature André Barrence, Head of Google’s Black Founders Fund in Brazil, India-based investor Anjali Bansal of Avaana Capital, and impact-focused global fintech investors Monica Brand of Quona Capital and Arjuna Costa of Flourish Ventures. Cate Ambrose, CEO of EMPEA, will moderate the discussion. Register here.

> #GPEC Registration is now open for the 22nd annual Global Private Equity Conference (GPEC) on 17-20 May 2021. Join IFC and EMPEA for the world’s largest convening of private investors in a highly interactive virtual gathering to learn the latest industry trends and connect with its prominent voices. Featured sessions include:

• Keynote fireside chat featuring Bill Ford of General Atlantic on Backing Global Entrepreneurs with Ricardo Weder of Jüsto and Byju Raveendran of Indian edtech Byju’s.
• Understanding the China Opportunity Today, featuring Suyi Kim of CPP Investments, JP Gan of INCE Capital and Rebecca Xu of Asia Alternatives.
• LP-only sessions from Hamilton Lane and Stepstone.
• REGISTER here.

> #CHANGETHERATIO PECAP, InclusivX and INCA Ventures are hosting The Diversity Dividend, a discussion about the benefits of an inclusion-based approach to VC in LatAm, on March 25. Log in to your LAVCA account for a discount code.

> #SAVETHEDATE ColCapital will host the IV Pacific Alliance Private Equity and Venture Capital Summit on April 13, 14 and 15. More information here.

> #SAVETHEDATE AMEXCAP will host Cumbre de Capital Privado 2021 on April 27 and 28. Details here.

> IDB Lab launched a call for proposals for VC fund managers with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean seeking equity financing. Investment management firms with proven experience and presence in the region are welcome to submit a proposal.

> ProChile launched a program to connect Chilean startups looking for international expansion with companies in Mexico, Colombia and Peru.

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.