> Trocafone is closing the digital gap in Brazil by making smartphones more affordable via trade-in programs for major carriers and manufacturers like Samsung, LG, Apple, and Movistar, and selling refurbished devices on Trocafone.com. READ LAVCA’s interview with Trocafone co-founder and CEO Guille Freire, where he discusses smartphone explosion in Latin America, Trocafone’s traction with investors, and expansion plans in the region.
> Rappi is expanding to Guadalajara and Monterrey, MX. READ LAVCA’s interview with CEO Simon Borrero.
> CargoX closed R$48m in revenue in 2016 and is planning to introduce automated trucks by 2020.
> Wayra accelerated Colombian e-learning platform, Tarefa, just surpassed 100k users and 2.5k teachers after receiving US$65k from 500 Startups via its sixth LatAm Accelerator Batch back in October 2016.
> Americas Quarterly: Startups from Brazil to Mexico Are Giving Banks a Run for Their Money.
> Christian Science Monitor profiles Laboratoria, a coding academy for underprivileged women in Peru, Mexico, and Chile.
> London-based Seedcamp sold a small stake in its unicorn investment Transferwise, recouping 80% of its second fund in a single transaction. TechCrunch calls it “one of the best European seed exits in recent years that wasn’t an acquisition or IPO.” Fund I returned 1.5X.
> Congratulations Fáctico, the first place winner of Hackathon Ethos Anticorrupción, hosted by Wayra Mexico and Ethos Laboratorio de Políticas Públicas in Mexico City. Fáctico's prize includes MXN$30k in cash, MXN$50k in services, and MXN$300k to develop the app over the next few months.
> Term Sheet’s Erin Griffith looks at Team8, a cybersecurity startup studio led by Israel's digital intelligence unit that received an undisclosed investment from Microsoft and Qualcomm, in the context of the growing prevalence of corporate hacking.